Bulloch County Schools serves children whose families come from 19 different countries. There are more than 24 different native languages spoken by children who attend our 15 campuses. This treasure of international diversity makes the art, drama, music, literature and customs of different countries even more meaningful.

Throughout the year our fine arts, language arts, foreign language, history and social studies teachers help students learn about the contributions and influences that other cultures have had on history, language, music, art, drama, and literature. This is especially true during the month of December as children learn about the winter holiday traditions that are celebrated in our community, like Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah. We invite you to enjoy the sights and sounds of the holiday season at these school events:

December 1 – 31, Portal Elementary School

Portal Elementary School’s Winter Holidays around the World

This learning project is funded by an innovation grant from the Bulloch County Foundation for Public Education.

December 5, 7:00 p.m., at Statesboro High School Auditorium

Langston Chapel Middle School Winter Concert

The LCMS Symphonic Band, directed by Morgan Polkowski, will present its Winter Concert.

December 6, 6:30 p.m., Nevils Elementary School

Nevils Elementary School presents, “The Christmas Radio” Musical.

December 6, 6:00 p.m., Portal Middle High School

Portal Middle High Winter Band Concert

December 8, 6:30 p.m., Langston Chapel Elementary School

Langston Elementary School presents “December in Our Town.”

December 9, 5-6:30 p.m., Statesboro High School

Statesboro High, Winter Art Exhibit and Sale

Statesboro High School Art students will host their second annual Winter Art Exhibit and Sale on December 9, 5 - 6:30 p.m., in the Fine Arts Department Hallway and main hallway of SHS. Light refreshments will be served. All proceeds go directly to the student artists so please bring cash or check. Entry is free. The National Art Honor Society will be selling handmade ceramic Christmas ornaments benefiting the Denham Springs High School Art Department which lost all art supplies in a flood earlier this year. Our students look forward to sharing what they have learned and created this semester.

Second and third-grade students, under the direction of SZES Music Teacher Sydna Davidson, will present the musical, “The Mice Before Christmas.” Mice are chewing up all the toys and the elves are having a panic attack worrying about having them all finished by Christmas. But... the mice step in to save the day.

December 13, 6:00 p.m., Julia P. Bryant Elementary

Julia P. Bryant Crazy Carols musical

Second and third-grade students, under the direction of JPBES Music Teacher Tom Sye, will be performing the musical, Crazy Carols by Sally K. Albrecht. The musical takes seven Christmas favorites and changes them with wacky school-time lyrics, about students who are anxious for a snow day and for Christmas break.

December 13, 7:00 p.m., Statesboro High School

Statesboro High Band, Winter Concert

Statesboro High School’s Symphonic Band will perform their Winter Concert. It will feature the Percussion Ensemble led by the band's student teacher Sergio Arreguin, and followed by the Concert Band and Symphonic Winds. Admission is free.

December 14-16, 7:00 p.m. Southeast Bulloch High School

Southeast Bulloch High Chorus Concert

Southeast Bulloch High School’s Chorus will perform each night at 7 p.m. from December 14-16. Seating will begin around 6:15pm for those who may have a free ticket, seating without a ticket will take place around 6:45pm. The music performed will consist of a mix of some of the semester’s competition pieces as well as Christmas music.

December 16, 8:30 a.m., Sallie Zetterower Elementary Gym

Sallie Zetterower Annual Holiday Songfest

Bring the whole family to enjoy this cherished tradition of singing holiday favorites together.

The Bulloch County Board of Education will meet for its regular session meeting on Thursday, Dec. 1, at 6:30 p.m., in the board room of the school system's Central Office. Key topics for discussion include the following: (1) votes on new and revised policies for student records and student data privacy; and (2) the appointment of an Education Special Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) Development Committee to lead the process and finalize a list of projects for a possible Nov. 2017 ESPLOST referendum for facilities, digital resources, technology, transportation, and safety & security upgrades within the school system.

The 2016-17 Georgia School Climate Star Rating Surveys for parents, personnel and students are underway. The surveys are a state accountability tool that is part of Georgia's College & Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI). Parents can take the online survey at

Each of Bulloch County Schools' 15 campuses will be given a Climate Star Rating which comes from the three different surveys: the GeorgiaParent Survey, the Georgia School Personnel Survey and the Georgia Student Health 2.0 Survey (one for grades 3-5, one for grades 6-8, and one for grades 9-12).

The combined results of these surveys will be reflected in a Climate Star Rating on each school's College & Career Readiness Performance Index. The ratings are released publicly by the state as standalone results and as part of annual CCRPI scores reporting. Bulloch County Schools' current ratings can be found on the district's website homepage.

Georgia Student Health Surveys 2.0 for Grades 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12

Federal law requires that the student survey questions be made available for review by all interested parties. The Georgia Student Health Survey 2.0 questions are available on our district website. Copies are available to parents or other parties upon request. The GSHS 2.0 is also available in Spanish. Schools are required to survey at least 75 percent of students in each of these grades to receive a Climate Star Rating.

Georgia School Personnel Survey

The Georgia School Personnel Survey (GSPS) is modeled after the student survey and includes 31 questions. The GSPS is for all certified and classified staff members who work at least 50 percent of the day in the school. Schools are required to survey at least 75 percent of their faculty and staff to receive a Climate Star Rating.

Georgia Parent Survey

The Georgia Parent Survey is modeled after the student survey and contains 24 questions. Parents can complete the survey using any Internet-enabled device including a personal computer, smartphone or tablet. For parents that do not have access to the Internet, school administrators will allow parents to complete the survey online at school. Survey responses are anonymous and will be submitted directly to the Georgia Department of Education for analysis. Parents can take the online survey via this link:

A free, adapted sports league is now available in Bulloch County for school-aged youth, who are in Kindergarten through 12th grade thanks to the local Special Olympics Committee. Parents can register their exceptional athletes at the Honey Bowen Building between 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. or by calling the Statesboro-Bulloch County Parks and Recreation Department at 912-764-5637.

Athletes can currently participate in a bowling league. All practices and competitions will take place at The Clubhouse located on 2704 Old Register Rd., in Statesboro. Practices are Mondays from 5:30 - 7:00 p.m., except for Nov. 28. That week's practice will be on Nov. 29 instead. Other upcoming practices are Dec. 5, Dec. 12, Dec. 19, Jan. 9 and Jan. 16.

The Bulloch County Board of Education will meet for its scheduled work session on Thursday, Nov. 17, 6:30 p.m., at the school system's Central Office. The Board's discussion will focus on adopting a new performance evaluation instrument for the superintendent of schools.

The Board embarked on revising the previous evaluation instrument this past spring in order to create a tool aligned with the Board of Education's vision. The proposed evaluation instrument includes rigorous goals and measurement rubrics aligned with the school system's Strategic Plan. The evaluation instrument and more information about its development are attached. All Board meeting packets are also posted on our website at www.bullochschools.org/boardpackets.

Students from two of Statesboro High School's career pathways, Architecture & Construction and Audio Video Technology & Film (AVTF), will be competing, videoing, and live streaming their participation in the Third Annual Skills Challenge on Thursday, Nov. 17, at the Augusta Fairgrounds. Hosted by the East Georgia Workforce Development Alliance , the event will provide skill building and career networking opportunities for more than 700 faculty, students and company representatives.

Eight schools, including SHS will compete in carpentry, plumbing, masonry and electrical. Six students from Statesboro High's brand new AVTF career pathway are working with ESE Networks to film, edit video and live stream the event for the competition's organizers. Area industries have donated more than $35,000 in sponsorships for the event so that participating schools and their students can compete at no cost.

The East Georgia Workforce Development Alliance is one of 11 such alliances across the state. Their purpose is to facilitate collaboration between industry members, students, high school counselors, CTAE teachers and school administrators for building skills and workforce development.

Statesboro High School’s SECME program was selected as a finalist for the 2016 Georgia STEM Education Awards by the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) and the TAG Education Collaborative (TAG-Ed). The annual statewide awards comprise eight different categories, and SHS was a finalist in the Extracurricular Category. All finalists were honored at a special awards gala on November 4, at the Loudermilk Center in Atlanta. Though Statesboro High did not ultimately win its category’s top award, the SHS SECME program was recognized separately as having one of the top STEM programs in the state.

“We applaud all of our applicants for their excellent work in STEM,” said Tino Mantella, president & CEO of TAG. “It is so gratifying to see STEM education gaining momentum throughout the state of Georgia,” added Michael Robertson, executive director of TAG-Ed.

The Georgia STEM Education Awards recognize schools, programs, and companies for outstanding efforts and achievements in supporting and promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Education in Georgia. “It truly means a lot to be recognized as one of the best programs in the state,” said SHS Science Teacher and SECME Advisor Rich McCombs. “SECME is designed to spark the interest of kids from all backgrounds in the fields of science, engineering, technology and math.”

McCombs began Statesboro’s SECME program in 2002. It has grown into a successful STEM opportunity for students from various backgrounds and academic levels. The SHS SECME Team has swept its regional competitions and advanced to national competition the last seven years. The team has been national champions in Water Bottle Rocket three times and finished top three in the nation in VEX Robotics and Mousetrap Car events. Several students from the SHS program have gone on to graduate from post-secondary engineering institutions and are now gainfully employed around the country in engineering fields.

McCombs was also a finalist for SECME’s National Teacher of the Year in 2006, and he won the coveted title in 2013. He and his students are now sharing their experiences by collaborating with SHS’s feeder schools to establish SECME programs at Julia P. Bryant Elementary, Langston Chapel Middle School and William James Middle School. All of which are already achieving at the regional and national level as well.

For more information about TAG and the Fifth Annual Georgia STEM Education Awards visit: http://www.tagonline.org/events/stem-education-awards/.

About SECME
SECME (not an acronym) was founded in 1975 by the Engineering Deans from six Southeastern universities: Alabama, Florida, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Tuskegee. It is a non-profit alliance that extends to 40 school systems, 37 major engineering universities, and industries and agencies in 15 states, the District of Columbia, and Grand Bahamas. SECME's mission is to increase the pool of historically under-represented and under-served students who
will be prepared to enter and complete post-secondary studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), thus creating a diverse and globally competitive workforce. SECME provides teacher professional development and coordinates student competitions across the country. Its National Headquarters is housed on the campus of The Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

About The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG)
TAG is the leading technology industry association in the state, serving more than 30,000 members through regional chapters in Metro Atlanta, Athens, Augusta, Columbus, Macon/Middle Georgia, and Savannah. TAG’s mission is to educate, promote, and unite Georgia’s technology community to foster an innovative and connected marketplace that stimulates and enhances a tech-based economy.

The association provides networking and educational programs; celebrates Georgia’s technology leaders and companies; and advocates for legislative action that enhances the state’s economic climate for technology. TAG hosts over 200 events each year and serves as an umbrella organization for 34 professional societies. Additionally, the TAG Education Collaborative (TAG’s charitable arm) focuses on helping science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education initiatives thrive. For more information visit the TAG website at www.tagonline.org or TAG’s community website at www.hubga.com.

About TAG Education Collaborative
TAG Education Collaborative is dedicated to developing science, technology, engineering and math initiatives in Georgia. Through partnerships with statewide STEM programs, TAG-Ed fosters student interest in STEM in order to increase appreciation for the opportunities available through technology careers. TAG-Ed hosts an internship program for high school students, two web-based team challenges for students interested in Health IT and web design, and the Vine Event, an annual fundraiser benefiting STEM education. For additional information, visit TAG Education Collaborative or contact Michael Robertson at (404) 920 – 2038 or mrobertson@tagonline.org.

The Northrop Grumman Foundation announced today that William James MIddle School is one of 25 public middle school semifinalists in its Fab School Labs STEM Lab Makeover contest. To secure the funds, WJMS supporters will need to vote for the school online on Friday, Dec. 9. This is part of a week-long online voting campaign for each finalist, with WJMS being scheduled for this date. The funds would allow WJMS to renovate and upgrade its existing STEM lab into a state-of-the-art science lab. Amy Smith, the school's STEM teacher was instrumental in preparing WJMS's application. Remember to vote online for WJMS on Dec. 9., on the Fab School Labs Facebook page at www.facebook.com/FabSchoolLabs.

Southeast Bulloch High School Principal Donna Clifton was recently awarded the Seven Seals Award by Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR). The prestigious national award is given only to employers at the discretion of the ESGR’s State Chair or its senior leadership. This is Clifton's second honor for her support of Guard and Reserve employees.

According to the ESGR’s official statement, “Donna Clifton has gone above and beyond in her support of the Air National Guard mission and the Airmen who carry it out, including one of Southeast Bulloch High School’s own teachers, Brent Whitaker. Multiple military deployments can take a toll on any organization, and Mrs. Clifton’s unwavering support has helped to further the mission of our Air National Guard.”

Clifton was nominated by Senior Master Sergeant Brent Whitaker, the SEBH’s acclaimed director of choral operations, who is a member of the Air National Guard and the ANG Band of the South. “Mrs. Clifton has been one of the strongest supporters of Guard and Reserve members that I have ever had a chance to work with,” said Whitaker. “In my line of military service, I have been gone a lot over the years, and often this can happen with little warning. I have never felt the slightest bit of disapproval from her due to my military service, and, in fact, she has bent over backwards to make sure I am okay and able to juggle everything when these military events call me away. Knowing you have a supportive and caring boss back home makes the absences away so much easier. I couldn’t do my military job on the road as well if I didn’t know she had my back here at home.”

According to the ESGR, it presents the Seven Seals Award in “recognition of significant individual or organizational achievement, initiative, or support that promotes and supports the ESGR mission, to include the efforts of the more than 4,500 volunteers who carry out ESGR’s mission across the Nation on a daily basis.”

"I have the utmost respect for Mr. Whitaker's devotion to our country,” Clifton said. “It is my duty to support him not only as a teacher, but also as a reservist. We at SEBHS are proud and honored to have him as a teacher."

Clifton has previously received the ANG’s Patriot Award, and now is the first SEBHS principal to receive the Seven Seals Award. The Patriot Award is given to individual supervisors and reflects the efforts made to support citizen warriors through a wide-range of measures including flexible schedules, time off prior to and after deployment, caring for families, and granting leaves of absence if needed.

Employees serving in the National Guard or Reserve, or the spouse of a Guard or Reserve member, may nominate individual supervisors and bosses for support provided directly to the nominating service member and his or her family. Bulloch County Schools encourages its administrators to support Guard and Reserve personnel.

# # #

Pictured L-R: SEBHS Principal Donna Clifton and Chuck Clark, the employer outreach director for the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR).

The Fall Leadership Conference for Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) chapters across the state was a success for Statesboro High as Angela Smith, an officer for her club, received the Statesman Award. The state award is given to a member who demonstrates overall knowledge of FCCLA and its history.

Smith and two additional SHS members joined more than 1,200 students and 200 faculty advisors in Covington, September 15-16, at the FFA-FCCLA Center. They participated in leadership workshops, planned their chapter’s program of work and participated in competitions.

The Statesboro High FCCLA Chapter, is a co-curricular student organization for the school’s Culinary Arts and Family & Consumer Sciences Career Pathways within the school system’s Career Technical and Agriculture Education program. The local SHS chapter is advised by Bethany Gilliam and Cindy Hart.

FCCLA is a national student organization that helps young men and women become leaders and address important personal, family, work, and societal issues through Family and Consumer Sciences education. FCCLA has over 160,000 members and over 4,500 chapters from 50 state associations, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The organization has involved more than ten million youth since its founding in 1945. The Statesboro High FCCLA Chapter has 56 members. For more information on Georgia FCCLA, visit www.gafccla.com.

Our schools teach all students the patriotic rituals, symbols, and songs of our country. They also learn of the sacrifices our military has made to protect our freedoms. Several of our schools are hosting Veterans Day programs, and they each cordially invite veterans, active duty military personnel and the public to attend.

Portal Elementary School Music Teacher, Dr. Debbie Cartee, and the school's chorus will present its annual patriotic musical, "Thank You, Heroes," to honor those who served and who currently serve our country in the armed services. All local veterans are invited to attend, and they will be recognized during the program. All veterans are also invited to have lunch following the program.

Portal Middle High School is dedicating a new Portal Veterans Memorial at the flag pole of its newly renovated athletic complex. All veterans, active duty military and the public are invited to attend.

The Portal Pride Band and Portal Elementary School Chorus will perform at the dedication. The school's middle school VFW Essay Contest Winner Marlie Motes will read her essay at the dedication., and Larry Motes, former mayor of Portal and U. S. Army veteran, will be the guest speaker.

Thursday, November 10, 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

WJMS 2nd Annual Veterans/Military Appreciation Day

William James Middle School will host its 2nd Annual Veterans Day/Military Appreciation Day event on Thursday, Nov. 10, 8:30 a.m. - The school is inviting all veterans and active-duty military to come WJMS on this day to be recognized by the faculty, staff and students. Veterans and active-duty military are welcome to come to classrooms to talk about their training and experiences.

8:30 a.m. - School-wide assembly where all
attending Veterans and Active Duty Soldiers will be recognized.

10:00 a.m. - National Guard Armory vehicles and equipment on display (all day). Students will take tours of the equipment and vehicles during their Connections groups.

Mill Creek Elementary School’s staff and students would like to invite all veterans and active duty military to their 12th Annual Veterans Day Luncheon & Parade. The luncheon is at 12:00 noon in the cafeteria. Please RSVP for the lunch by calling 212-8780. The parade will begin at 1:00 p.m. in front of the school. Special reserved seating is available for veterans and active duty military.

Thursday, November 10, 2:00 p.m.
Langston Chapel Middle School Veterans Day Program

“Honoring Those Who Served”

(Reception for Veterans & Active Duty Military at 1 p.m.)

All veterans, active duty military and their families are invited to join Langston Chapel Middle School as they recognize our community's military heroes from all branches of service and all conflicts during their annual Veterans Day ceremony.

The school will host a drop-in reception at 1:00 p.m. for all veterans and military guests prior to the main ceremony at 2:00 p.m, in the gymnasium. LCMS parents are also invited.

The program will be led by LCMS students. It features guest speaker COL George Fredrick, of the United States Army. Commander Emil N. Kemp and Past Commander Rev./Dr. Enos V. Garvin, United States Army, and members of the Disabled American Veterans, Local Chapter #8, will also be part of the program.

The school’s chorus and band, will perform patriotic music, including “Taps.” The Statesboro High School Air Force JROTC Color Guard and Exhibition Team will present the colors and perform. Students will also perform the Missing Man Ceremony.

The Bulloch County Board of Education will meet for its regular session meeting on Thursday, Nov. 3, 6:30 p.m., in the board room of the district's Central Office. Key items on the agenda include a presentation about the district's upcoming AdvancED re-accreditation process, a vote on the application to the Georgia Department of Education for modifications to Portal Elementary and Mill Creek Elementary, a review of the superintendent's evaluation instrument, and new and revised policies. A complete Board packet for the meeting is available at www.bullochschools.org/boardpackets

Bulloch County Schools' third-grade gifted (QUEST) students were geology majors for the day during a recent visit to Georgia Southern University. Students from each of the district's nine elementary schools participated in a variety of STEM learning opportunities.

The hands-on activities engaged students in learning about the earth's changes over time, examining and documenting fossils, analyzing and classifying rocks and minerals, collecting and testing well water for ph levels and hardness, and discovering ways GA Southern uses sustainable measures to preserve natural resources

The Georgia Southern Museum's Hall of Natural History was the place students learned about paleontology, fossils, extinction, characteristics of fossils, and using scientific tools to measure and identify teeth fossils. Students from the Geology and Geography Department conducted a walking tour of five stations on campus to help students identify and learn about sustainable features: minerals and society; fossils; soils; groundwater quality and sampling; and groundwater chemistry.

GA Southern's Math & Physics Department, its Interdisciplinary STEM Institute, the Center for Sustainability, the Wildlife Education Center, the Multimedia Development Center, and the Garden of the Coastal Plain have all provided STEM opportunities for the district's students.

Five-year trend shows district's graduates are closing gap between state & national peers

Bulloch County Schools’ 2016 graduates achieved higher scores than their 2015 peers in all tested subjects for both the ACT and SAT. While graduates’ scores can typically fluctuate up or down from year to year, the district’s five-year trend data across all tested subjects shows an overall increase in scores for each high school and the system.

“We are making steady progress,” said Charles Wilson, superintendent of schools. “We still have room to improve; however, these results point to the success of the work being done. Our administrators and I see the positive effect of the performance culture we are building.”

Wilson is referring to the strategic shift the Bulloch County Board of Education, its administrators and teacher leaders made almost five years ago. They committed to build a performance culture to support the district’s community-based strategic plan and the move to a new state operating status as a Strategic Waivers School System (SWSS).

“Our focus is continuous improvement,” Wilson said. “Our principals and teachers are using key strategies for student learning and collaborative, empowered, and innovative teaching practices. We believe this will result in growth for all students."

“The steady growth trend on both the SAT and the ACT is certainly encouraging,” said Dr. Ken LeCain, principal of Statesboro High School. “I believe these slow steady increases can be traced directly back to our teachers’ closer scrutiny of academic standards and their endeavor to make our students think more critically.”

"We are really pleased with the success of our students, especially in English,” said Donna Clifton, principal of Southeast Bulloch High School. “We devote so much thought and energy to close reading and to extended writing, and our students' success is a reflection of the hard work being done by students and teachers.”

Portal Middle High School’s strategy, due to its smaller size, has been to use its support staff, instructional coordinators and counselors to address individual student academic needs identified by faculty. “We also utilize creative scheduling for prescribed remediation and enrichment for our high school students," said Patrick Hill, principal of PMHS.

Since 2012, the district has worked with the Georgia Leadership Institute for School Improvement to train and empower teachers and principals to effect student achievement by better analyzing and using data to lead instruction and change in their schools. Teachers are also collaborating more in teams, called professional learning communities (PLCs). Teachers meet regularly amongst grade levels and academic subject areas to better recognize student needs and provide more individualized, tailored instruction. By developing common classroom assessments, they see real-time how students are mastering concepts and are able to make immediate adjustments as opposed to waiting for annual standardized test results like ACT, SAT and Georgia Milestones.

“This strategy will lead to improved outcomes and opportunities for our students,” Wilson said. “It is a lot of work, it is hard work, and it will require adjustments, but it is the right work,” Wilson added. “I commend our professionals for working together and sticking with it to put this foundation in place. I encourage parents to learn more about how this is happening in their child’s school to better understand the progress being made at all grade levels.”

A snapshot of the district's five-year trend data for the SAT and ACT is attached. Complete ACT and SAT College Board reports for the school system and each of its three high schools are available at www.bullochschools.org/testing

The Georgia Department of Education will host a live Twitter chat on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 7 - 8 p.m. to gather feedback about Georgia's plan for the Every Student Succeeds Act. Simply follow them @gadeptofed from your Twitter account, and if you respond, use the #ESSAINGA with your response.

If you'd like to prepare prior to the live chat, this is their script. Do not post your answer to a question until you see it posted live and remember the hashtag #ESSAINGA.

Bulloch County Schools reopened to a normal schedule Wednesday, except for Stilson Elementary, which will open Thursday. The district’s 15 schools, Transitions Learning Center and offices had been closed since Friday due to Hurricane Matthew. The system has closed for four days this school year due to hurricane conditions with Matthew and Hermine.

“This community has been through a lot these past few days, and we know how important it is for everyone to have their normalcy restored,” said Superintendent of Schools Charles Wilson. “We have a moral obligation to all children in this community. We believed it was our responsibility to resume school operations as soon as we were able to provide a safe and comfortable learning environment, along with hot meals.”

The system notified parents Monday afternoon via its email and telephone messaging system, website, social media and area radio, print and television media outlets that classes would resume on Wednesday. “We wanted to give parents and employees time to plan ahead to determine their individual situations and make decisions about their ability to return,” said Wilson.

“There are lots of smiles, and it’s been a great day,” Nate Pennington, principal of Nevils Elementary, said about his school's first day back. Like Stilson, some families in Nevils are still without power and water. The district let parents know that they understood some areas received greater damage than others. Parents could address their individual conditions and make the best attendance decisions for their child. Superintendent Wilson encouraged principals and teachers to work with families from confirmed damage areas as they transition back to a normal schedule.

The decision to reopen came after Wilson received the latest information about road and power conditions across the county from the Bulloch County Emergency Management Agency. By 8 a.m. Wednesday, less than 2,000 residents were without power. More than 95 percent of residents’ in Bulloch County had power due to the tremendous efforts of Georgia Power Company, Excelsior EMC, and line crews from across Georgia and outside the state.

Stilson Elementary School
Georgia Power Company restored electricity to Stilson Elementary just before 8:00 p.m. Tuesday night. Staff thoroughly checked the school Wednesday and prepared it to open Thursday with a normal schedule and food service operations.

Bus Routes
All of the system’s 101 bus routes ran without incident on Wednesday. “All of our drivers, except one, who had a death in the family, reported for work, and they did a great job,” said Paul Webb, BCS’s chief operations officer. Webb reported that he and his drivers were aware of conditions along their routes. “Our drivers are our driving force,” said Webb. “They are the first face of the district for more than 5,000 students. We encourage drivers to know our students’ families and build relationships with them,” said Webb. “Our lead drivers personally called parents Tuesday night and arranged an alternate bus stop location if a section of road was accessible by car, but not by bus.”

Nevils Area: The Nevils lead driver reported Wednesday that all drivers were able to safely reach all but two students. The lead driver called these parents Tuesday night and arranged an alternate bus stop to help these two children get to school.

Stilson Area: Even though Stilson Elementary School was closed Wednesday, Southeast Bulloch Middle School and Southeast Bulloch High School, which serve this area were open. The lead driver reported they were able to safely complete 100 percent of their routes by using different access points and contacting parents Tuesday evening to arrange an alternate bus stop.

Brooklet Area: All but three of the Brooklet area’s bus drivers were able to reach 100 percent of their stops on Wednesday. Despite attempts to contact parents to coordinate alternate bus stops or access stops via another route, two of the Brooklet area’s buses only reached 95 percent of their stops and one only reached 75 percent.

School Nutrition Services
Bulloch County Schools’ School Food Services Department worked around the clock through Tuesday to ensure meal preparation was at a functional level by Wednesday. There was some loss of food supplies, but the department was able to replenish supplies and serve hot meals that matched the previously printed menu except at one school, Brooklet Elementary. “Wednesday is chicken day, and we were able to serve the kids’ favorite chicken nuggets at all schools, except Brooklet, where we served Chicken Alfredo,” said Megan Blanchard, school nutrition director.

“Our food vendors were amazing and made quick deliveries to us,” said Blanchard. “Also, all the school nutrition directors in this area support one another. We purchased some of Evans County’s fresh produce for this week that would have gone to waste since they are still closed. This turned out to be a win-win for both counties. It’s how we all support one another in times of need.” Blanchard added that that schools are prepared to accommodate all documented student food allergies as normal.

Operations & Maintenance
Paul Webb, the district’s chief operations officer over safety, maintenance, transportation, facilities and school nutrition, directed the district’s response for these areas and served as a liaison to the Bulloch County EMA. As directed by EMA, Webb made district bus, fuel and facilities resources available to assist recovery and relief efforts.

The district’s maintenance and grounds crews, under the direction of Glenn Rogers assessed all of the schools over the weekend and worked to repair and clear any storm damage.

Attendance
Bulloch County Schools serves a total of 10,505 students, 10,115 without Stilson Elementary, which was closed Wednesday. Not including Stilson, there were 821 students not in attendance due to either storm recovery or other reasons. Again, principals and teachers will work with families in confirmed damaged areas. The district's attendance rate Wednesday was 92 percent.

The Bulloch County Board of Education will meet for its regular session, today at 6:30 p.m., in the Central Office Board Room. The Bulloch County Foundation for Public Education will host a reception for Fall Innovation Grant recipients prior to the meeting at 6:00 p.m., in the same location.

The Superintendent's Report will include a proclamation for Retired Educators Day, an update on the state of the system after Hurricane Matthew, and a presentation of the system's AdvancED Standard Two work in preparation for reaccreditation.

The meeting's agenda includes votes on the purchase of eight school buses and an application to the Georgia Department of Education to make structural modifications to Portal Elementary and Mill Creek Elementary as part of the district's five-year facilities plan. The Board will also place on the table for review the superintendent's evaluation instrument.

The next meeting is a work session on Thursday, Oct. 27, 6:30 p.m., at Statesboro High School. Prior to that meeting, the district will reveal its 2018 Teacher of the Year at a special reception from 5:30 - 6:30 in the same location.

Stilson Elementary School will reopen on Thursday with a normal schedule and normal operations. Thank you for your patience. We look forward to welcoming everyone back. As the district has announced, parents can make the best attendance decisions for their children based on your individual situations. Our district School Food Services staff has replenished our food supplies, and we will serve our regular menus as published.

Except for Stilson Elementary School, all of Bulloch County Schools’ campuses and offices will resume a normal schedule on Wednesday, Oct. 12. Students will not have to make up the four days the district closed for Hurricane Hermine (1 day) and Hurricane Matthew (3).

The community of Stilson, in southeast Bulloch County, is still without power and water. Georgia Power Company estimates that power will be restored sometime Wednesday afternoon. We hope to resume classes at Stilson Elementary on Thursday. We ask our Stilson families to continue monitoring our updates about this school's schedule. The remainder of our 14 schools have utilities, and the majority of our 10,400 students, are able to return to school.

Across Bulloch County, we understand that you, or your area, may have received greater damage than others. We also understand some families who chose to evacuate may not have returned to Bulloch County. In this case, as with any major weather event, parents should address their individual conditions and make the best attendance decisions for their child. Our administrators will work with families from confirmed damage areas.

As we return to school, we encourage you to use caution and allow for extra travel time to work and school. Bulloch County Schools cannot guarantee bus transportation for all areas due to some road conditions. Again, our administrators will work with any affected families. There may be longer drive times for bus routes and vehicles. School administrators will accommodate for this as well. Parents please assess the abilities of your student drivers. Encourage them to use caution or consider an adult driver taking them to school.

Some schools did lose food due to power outages. Our School Nutrition Department has worked to ensure meal services for Wednesday. However, the published school menus may be altered as we restock and encounter food shortages for some items.

These are our current conditions based on the latest information from the Bulloch County Emergency Management Agency:

• There are less than 4,000 residents without electricity.
• More than 50 percent of dirt roads are clear for safe travel.

Thank you for your patience during the storm. Please join us in thanking Governor Nathan Deal, the Georgia Department of Transportation, Bulloch County Emergency Management Agency, the Statesboro Police Department, the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Department, Georgia State Patrol, the City of Statesboro, Bulloch County, Georgia Power Company, Excelsior EMC and our Bulloch County Schools Operations Department. All worked tirelessly to ensure we could reopen.

As with this and any emergency situation, we ask you to monitor all our district communications: the district website, district social media, your email and your telephone, and the media for complete information.

All Bulloch County Schools' campuses and offices will open and resume a normal schedule on Wednesday, Oct. 12. Students will not be required to make up the missed days.

This decision to remain closed until Wednesday was based on the latest report of conditions around our county from the Bulloch County Emergency Management Agency. A significant number of our employees and students' families are still without utilities. Also, only approximately 20 percent of dirt roads in the county are cleared for safe travel. This affects our ability to provide bus transportation.

Our school administrators and district maintenance staff are continuing to thoroughly inspect our facilities to ensure all of our schools are ready to go on Wednesday. Our school food services staff are working to bring meal preparation to a functional level by Wednesday as well. Please note that the published menus may be altered.

Thank you again for your patience. If your family is in need of food, the Statesboro Food Bank (old Julia P. Bryant School) and the Christian Service Ministry (Parrish Street) are providing meals.

After the latest information from the Bulloch County Emergency Management Agency, Superintendent Charles Wilson has decided to close all schools and offices for Monday. We will communicate on a day-by-day basis on our operations. Please listen for specific information from your school as to how this may affect athletics and extracurricular activities.

This decision was made after considering several factors. Road conditions will inhibit safe school bus travel. Although, we expect power to be restored to all of our schools today, there are more than 20,000 residents without electricity. Bulloch County Schools also made some of our buses available to Georgia Power in order to shuttle crews to and from their equipment to their temporary shelter facilities. Some of our campuses are still in use as staging areas for responders. We could not ensure proper meal service due to the loss of food at our schools.

We ask for your continued patience as we assess the situation day by day and seek current, informed guidance from public safety and utilities about conditions across the county.

Please know we understand there may be areas that received greater damage than others. We understand that there may be some families who chose to evacuate and have not yet returned to Bulloch County. In this case, as with any major weather event, parents should address their individual conditions and make the best attendance decision for their child.

Continue to monitor our communications for more information as it is available.

Bulloch County Schools' administrators will have a briefing with the Bulloch County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) on Sunday, Oct. 9, at 2 p.m. Administrators will make an informed decision after that meeting about our operations for the coming week.

Once a decision is made, we will communicate it via all local and area media, our district social media, district website and our email and telephone messaging system.

We ask for your continued patience as we assess our facilities and seek informed guidance from public safety and utilities about current conditions across the county.

Please know we understand there may be areas that received greater damage than others. We also understand that there may be some families who chose to evacuate and have not yet returned to Bulloch County. In this case, as with any major weather event, parents should address their individual conditions and make the best attendance decision for their child.

Continue to monitor our communications for more information as it is available.

Hurricane Matthew Update- Oct. 8, 2:30 p.m. Communications are now coming back online after being down for about 8 hours Saturday morning. Bulloch County Schools has not yet made a decision about our operations for next week. We ask for your patience as we assess our facilities and seek informed guidance from public safety and utilities about expected conditions going into Monday.

Please know we understand there may be areas that received greater damage than others. In that case, as with any major weather event, parents should address their individual conditions and make the best attendance decision for their child.

Continue to monitor our district social media, district website and local media for more information as it is available.

Bulloch County Schools and offices will be open for a full-day schedule on Thursday, Oct. 6. All of our schools and offices will be closed on Friday, Oct. 7.

Hurricane Mathew shifted a little westward over night, thus increasing the potential of more rain and damaging winds for our area. However, it is still a relatively long way away and a lot of things could still change.

Beginning Friday around 2:00 p.m., we can expect to see winds pick up significantly and that will increase into the night. As it stands now, we are expecting winds between 40-60 mph and rainfall of 4-6 inches.

All lanes of Interstate 16 are now west bound only. No east bound traffic for the rest of today, Friday and Saturday. Shoulders were cleared of debris yesterday so the DOT will utilize all lanes and shoulders to get traffic out of Florida, southeast Georgia and South Carolina.

Since Bulloch County is in the Governor's Emergency area, no local shelters will be utilized. The closest shelter to our area will be in Emanuel County and other counties northward and westward of that county. GEMA recommends that those that live in mobile homes may want to find a friend or family member who lives in a more substantial structure and stay there Friday night.

The Georgia Department of Transportation has asked for and received permission from Bulloch County Schools to use Langston Chapel Middle School and Langston Chapel Elementary School as their staging location beginning Friday.

Georgia Power Company is currently using the Kiwanis Fairgrounds as their staging area; however, Southeast Bulloch High School and Southeast Bulloch Middle School are prepared and on standby for GA Power to possibly use the their gyms and showers on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

High winds and power outages are our greatest problems as we move into Friday night and Saturday. We encourage parents to continue to monitor our website and local media for information about situations that could affect operations next week.

Note: We will make a decision on our response and an announcement by 5 p.m. on Thursday.

Bulloch County Schools actively monitors all weather events and participates in regular safety briefings with Ted Wynn, director of the Bulloch County Public Safety/EMA. We have been monitoring Hurricane Matthew with EMA since last week.

According to the National Weather Service and our Bulloch County EMA, the storm's current forecasted track will have it off the Georgia Coast at 2 a.m. on Saturday. No current forecasted model has it making landfall. Continue to stay informed and have an emergency kit and plan for your family.

The Governor has placed 12 counties, including Bulloch, under a state of emergency. This is an administrative action to make state assets available if they are needed.

With guidance from our local Emergency Management Agency, the school system will make an informed decision regarding school and extracurricular schedules for the remainder of the week. Bulloch County EMA is our best source for the most accurate information.

We will provide further information as it becomes available. We have another scheduled briefing with EMA at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. The information we receive at this meeting with guide our school system's final decisions in regards to Hurricane Matthew. We will make an announcement by 5:00 p.m, on Thursday about that decision.

With this and all major news and safety events, we encourage parents/guardians to monitor our district website (www.bullochschools.org), district and school social media, local media, their phones, and/or their email for announcements from the district.

After a Wednesday afternoon briefing with the Bulloch County Emergency Management Agency, Superintendent Charles Wilson has decided to close all of our schools and offices on Friday, October 7, due to Hurricane Matthew. Schools and offices will be open on a normal schedule for Thursday, October 6. Students will not be required to make up this day. Some athletics and extracurricular activities may be affected both days. Look for information from your school.

Continue to monitor our district website, district and school social media, local media, your phones, and/or your email for announcements from the district should anything occur that would affect schedules next week.

We appreciate the guidance that the Bulloch County Emergency Management Agency provides our school system. Thank you to our students' families for your time and attention as we monitored the situation.

Georgia Pre-Kindergarten Week is October 3 -7, and Bulloch County Schools' pre-k faculty are welcoming parents, special guests and elected officials into their classrooms. "It's an opportunity for us to showcase the program's success, increase stakeholder awareness and strengthen community support for young learners," said Dr. Yvette Ledford, director of the district's pre-k program.

In its sixth year, Georgia Pre-K Week is a celebration of early learning and the quality education programs for our state's youngest students. The week-long series of events supports the 24th anniversary of the state’s nationally recognized pre-k program. Local highlights in Bulloch County Schools include themed activities, celebrity readers and a special exhibit of pre-k students' artwork at the Averitt Center for the Arts.

The week’s festivities begin Monday, October 3 with school visits from corporate sponsor Georgia Power and Rep. Jan Tankersley. Georgia Power representatives will read to Sallie Zetterower Elementary School's pre-k classes at 10:15. Rep. Tankersley will read to Brooklet Elementary School's pre-k class at 9:30 and Mill Creek Elementary School’s pre-k classes at 11:00. She will also visit Southeast Bulloch High School’s pre-k class on Wednesday, October 5, at 10:00.

Rep. Tankersley will read the state-adopted book, "Rainbow Fish," by Marcus Pfister. Tankersley has made reading to students during Pre-K Week an annual tradition. She and more than 100 legislators statewide have committed to visit Pre-k centers in their districts to read to students, meet with instructors, tour the facilities and observe students learning.

New this year in Bulloch County is an exhibit of pre-k students' artwork at the Averitt Center for the Arts. Families are invited to visit the Averitt Center's third-floor Multipurpose Gallery during the Downtown Statesboro Development Authority's First Friday event Friday, October 7, from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Pre-K teachers and directors will be present to help celebrate the students’ artwork.

The school system invites legislators, local elected officials, community leaders and the Board of Education to visit its pre-k sites during this week. Bulloch County Schools has 19 pre-k classes located at 12 sites on the district's elementary and high school campuses. The classes serve a total of 416 students. Bulloch County Schools also serves special needs students through its Pre-K Disabilities Program. The school system has 38 pre-k teachers and assistant teachers. Principals serve as site directors at their campuses, and Dr. Yvette Ledford at the central office is the program's project director.

Georgia Pre-K Week is organized by Voices for Georgia’s Children and endorsed by Bright from the Start, Georgia's Department for Early Care and Learning (DECAL). Synovus and Georgia Power Company are corporate sponsors for the statewide event.

Established in 2003, Voices for Georgia's Children is a nonprofit child policy and advocacy organization that envisions a Georgia where children are safe, healthy, educated, employable, and connected to their family and community. Their mission is to be a powerful, unifying voice for a public agenda that ensures the wellbeing of all Georgia’s children.

Georgia Southern University’s Center for Sustainability, one of the school district's major STEM learning partners, is gearing up for its fourth annual GreenFest on Saturday, Oct. 1, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m., in downtown Statesboro. The more than 40 vendors will showcase all that the region has to offer for sustainable living and green products.

Featured workshops this year include up-cycled vases and planters, pallet birdhouses, and bookmarks and placemats made from recycled Georgia Southern banners. The Statesboro Mainstreet Farmers Market will also offer visitors fresh, local produce.

Activities will extend past the Bulloch County Courthouse Square and throughout East, West and South Main streets, along the Blue Mile. The new Averitt Center for the Arts' new Roxie Remley Center will feature recycled art projects, and there will be bike riding along the Willie McTell Trail. Bicyclists are eligible to enter a drawing for sustainable prizes.

The City of Statesboro is hosting a service opportunity for beautification of the Blue Mile. Volunteers can get their hands dirty and make a difference in our community. Check in at the Courthouse Square to participate.

Entries in the second annual Pallet Challenge will also be on display along Siebald Street, and winners will be announced at 12:15pm. Last year’s competition drew entries from as far as Savannah and included pallet picnic tables, catapults, compost bins and even a bunkbed. Register your pallet creation in the competition this year at georgiasouthern.edu/sustainability.

The goal of GreenFest is to educate the public about sustainable solutions throughout the community, and to share green resources and eco-friendly ideas in an outdoor festival atmosphere. For more information and to get involved, visit the Center for Sustainability online at georgiasouthern.edu/sustainability or contact cfs@georgiasouthern.edu, 912-478-5895.

Southeast Bulloch High School's marching band, The Swarm, is hosting its 3rd Annual Band Blast Marching Festival on Saturday, Sept. 24, at SEBHS's Fred Shaver Field. The day-long event will feature performances by11 bands from throughout the area, who will be evaluated by a panel of judges. The goal of the event is to give the marching bands an early opportunity to perform and receive feedback from judges in preparation for the upcoming competition season in October. Three of Bulloch County School's bands will perform at the event: Portal Middle High School at 3:40 p.m.; Statesboro High School at 6:00 p.m.; and SEBHS at 8:00 p.m. These bands are under the direction of John Gleissner, Lee Collins and Matt Olsen.

The Bulloch County Board of Education will meet for its scheduled work session on Thursday, Sept. 22, at 6:30 p.m., in the school system's Central Office Board Room, 150 Williams Road, in Statesboro. The complete Board packet is attached.

Key topics include votes on two items: Board Member Proposed Meeting Schedule and the Fiscal Year 2017 Carl D. Perkins Federal Grants and local plan for the district's Career Technical & Agricultural Education program. The Board will also place on the table for review a proposal to purchase eight additional school buses.

The Board's work session will focus on directives that the Board has set for itself as a governing body and a school-level perspective on the district's implementation of professional learning communities.

A Southeast Bulloch High School (SEBHS) senior, Wyatt Turner, is Georgia’s 2016 Trig-Star state champion. He advanced to state by having the highest preliminary competition scores at both the school and county level. Turner and his mathematics teacher, Susan Boddiford, each received a monetary award of $750 for the honor.

Turner was recognized at the Surveying and Mapping Society of Georgia’s (SMSG) annual banquet in Savannah. This is the tenth year that a Bulloch County high school student has won the state-level event, and the ninth time that it has been won by a SEBHS student.

Faith Adams of Portal Middle High school placed second in the state competition. Her math teacher is Dennis Moore. One honorable mention is Statesboro High’s (SHS) Neha Aggarwal. Though she did not place at the state competition, she posted a very competitive score. Her math teacher is Tiffany Jackson.

More than 10,000 students each year participate in the Trig-Star competition. TRIG-STAR champions are mathematics students who have demonstrated in competition that they are the most skilled among classmates in the practical application of trigonometry. The competition for the annual honor is a timed exercise which involves solving trigonometry problems that incorporate the use of right triangle formulas, circle formulas, the law of sines, and the law of cosines.

Trig-Star is sponsored locally by the Statesboro surveying firm of James M. Anderson & Associates, at the state level by the SMSG and nationally by the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS). The contest helps promote how those skilled in mathematics can seek careers in the surveying and mapping industry.

Any student who participates in the Trig-Star competition and plans to enroll in a college degree program or a four-year program leading to a bachelor’s degree in surveying and mapping (the Land Surveying Profession) is eligible to apply for the NSPS Foundation Trig-Star scholarship of $5000.00. The applicant is not required to have previously won at any level of competition, but must have participated in the contest offered at their high school.

The competition is open to any student who is sponsored by a local surveying company. The SMSG registers the entire state for the Trig-Star, so there is no cost to a local surveying company to sponsor a school. If you are a surveyor and are interested in becoming a sponsor for your community’s local high school(s) in the 2017-2018 competition, contact Jim Anderson at James M. Anderson & Associates, Inc. 912-764-2002.

Knapp Boddiford, an affiliate member of the Southeast Bulloch High School National FFA Organization Chapter, is one of four American Star Awards national finalists in the area of Agriculture Placement. This is his third national FFA title. He will attend the 89th National FFA Convention & Expo October 20-22, in Indianapolis, where the National American Star Winner will be named in his area and in three additional categories (Agriculture Placement, Agribusiness, Agriscience, and Farmer). There are a total of 16 finalists across the four categories, and Boddiford is the only one from Georgia and the southeastern United States.

Boddiford will receive $2,000 for being named a finalist, and if he is selected as the National Star Winner, he will receive an additional $2,000. Previously he won the National Proficiency Award for Fiber and Oil Crop Production in 2013, and the National Proficiency Award for Diversified Crop Placement in 2014.

In 2012 he received his Master 4-H designation in Plant and Soil Science, an honor that advanced him to the National 4-H Congress. In high school he was also selected for the Governor’s Honors Program in the area of Agriscience/Biotechnology.

FFA members who have earned their American FFA Degrees are eligible for the American Star Awards. Boddiford has achieved his American Degree, which is the highest achievement level in FFA. Less than 2,000 members a year, out of a membership base of more than 600,000, ever achieve this status. Leading to his American FFA Degree, Boddiford obtained his Green Hand, Chapter, and State Degrees in high school.

A 2013 graduate of SEBHS, Boddiford has remained affiliated with his alma mater's FFA Chapter. FFA active membership continues for three years after graduation, and students may either join a collegiate chapter or remain affiliated with their high school as they complete FFA degree and competition programs.

The SEBHS FFA Chapter is a co-curricular student organization open to students within the school's agriculture-related career pathways as part of the Career Technical and Agricultural Education program. The chapter's advisors are Brian Elrick, Hannah Elrick, and previously Susannah Lanier, who was instrumental in assisting Boddiford with his national-level pursuits.

He has been active in the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) FFA chapter but chose to continue to compete in the name of his high school. He is a senior at ABAC, where he is majoring in Diversified Ag with a concentration in Ag Business.

To be eligible for the American Star Awards program, an FFA member must demonstrate skills mastery in agriculture production, finance, management and/or research and have earned an American FFA Degree. State FFA associations nominate American Star Award candidates based on the quality of their American FFA Degree and Star Battery applications. American Star Awards winners and finalists represent the best among the nation's thousands of American FFA Degree recipients. The American Star Awards are sponsored nationally by ADM Crop Risk Services, Case IH, Elanco, Farm Credit and Syngenta.

Portal Middle High School's softball teams will host the 8th Annual Turpentine 5K Run/Walk on Saturday, Oct. 1, at 8:00 a.m. All proceeds will benefit both the middle and high school teams.

Participants may pre-register by mail or on race day from 7:00 a.m. - 7:50a.m. Runners whose race applications are received by mail by September 16 are guaranteed a t-shirt. Registration fees are $20 per person. PMHS student registration is $5 per person, but does not include a t-shirt.

The 5K Run features 14 age divisions from 10 and under through 70 and over. Awards will be given to the top two overall 5K Run males and females. The awards ceremony will begin at 9:10 a.m.

Portal Middle High School is located at 27245 Highway 80 West, in Portal, GA 30450. This address may be used for registrations by mail. A registration form/race brochure is attached.

Directions from Atlanta/Macon: Take Interstate 16 to exit #104. Turn left at the end of the exit onto Highway 121. Continue down Highway 121 for approximately 9 miles. Turn right onto US Hwy 80 towards Portal. The school will be on your right 1/2 mile past the Portal city limit sign.

Directions from Savannah: Take Interstate 16 to exit #127 and turn right onto Highway 67. Continue 11 miles to the Highway 301 Bypass and turn left. Continue 7 miles on 301 Bypass and turn left onto Highway 80/25. Continue 4.5 miles and turn left onto Highway 80. Continue on Highway 80 (7 miles) to the caution light in Portal. The school will be on your left just past the caution light.

Statesboro High School’s Fine Arts Department will present its seventh annual dessert theatre, “Broadway in the ‘Boro,” on Saturday, Sept. 17, at 6:00 p.m. for dessert with the show following at 7:00 p.m., in the school’s fine arts auditorium. The event benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) and the SHS Fine Arts Department. Selections for the evening include scenes, dances and music from many of the department's successful productions.

Each year the event raises more than $1,000 for LLS. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5.00 for students and children 12 and under. Tickets are available at the door or to purchase prior to the event contact Eddie Frazier at Statesboro High School 912.212.8860 or dfrazier@bullochschools.org

Local farmers are the key to Bulloch County Schools receiving a $25,000 grant from America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education (AFGRE), a program sponsored by the Monsanto Fund. After an 8-month nomination, application and national judging process, Bulloch County Schools received the grant based on the merit of the application, need and community support. The grant will provide enhanced math and science learning resources for the school system’s elementary students. The district will celebrate its selection with the Board of Education, school administrators, STEM teachers, Monsanto representatives and local ag leaders during a check presentation ceremony and reception on Thursday, Sept. 8, at 5:00 p.m. in the Central Office Board Room.

Farmers from across the U.S. nominate and select AFGRE grant recipients. Earlier this year, Bulloch County Schools reached out to the Statesboro Bulloch County Chamber of Commerce’s Agribusiness Committee and AgSouth Farm Credit to help encourage local farmers to nominate the district for consideration. At least one nomination is necessary before a district can gain permission to apply, but 15 farmers nominated the school system.

Dr. Virginia Bennett, executive director of academic support services and STEM for the school district, developed a grant submission that focused not only on supplementing math and science teaching resources for the Bulloch County’s elementary STEM exploratory labs and STEM teachers, but specifically provide problem-solving tasks and projects related to agriculture as well like plant science, rain water run-off, weather, the water cycle, air currents, building simple machines, circuitry, construction and more.

A group of national science and math teachers reviewed submissions from throughout the country and selected Bulloch County Schools as a finalist. Next, AFGRE’s Farmer Advisory Council, which is composed of approximately 30 farmer leaders from across the United States with an interest in agriculture and education, selected the school system for one of the Grow Rural Education Grants.

Community support for the district’s STEM efforts has also been supported by AgSouth Farm Credit. As part of their 100 Days of Giving campaign, they collected items throughout the summer based on a list developed by the district’s STEM teachers. The company has made multiple deliveries of donated items like basic school supplies, consumables such as straws, Q-tips, craft sticks and cotton balls, and recycled items like 2-liter soft drink bottles, milk jugs and egg cartons. These items are in constant need for various lab projects and experiments.

The America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education program began in 2011. Since 2011, more than $11 million has been awarded to over 700 rural school districts to enhance STEM education. In 2016 AFGRE donated $2.3 million to rural public school districts. For a complete list of winners and to learn more about the America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education program, visit www.GrowRuralEducation.com.

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About Bulloch County Schools’ STEM Exploratory Labs

Bulloch County Schools debuted its STEM Exploratory Labs this school year after piloting them at Nevils, Mill Creek and Brooklet elementary schools last year. With this concept nearly 5,000 K-5 students cycle through a STEM Exploratory Lab experience at least 45 minutes each week, just like they do art, music, computer and physical education. They are the initial phase in moving all 15 schools toward increased STEM-based instructional practices that will eventually be pervasive throughout the system.

In the labs students have an opportunity to solve real-life problems and collaborate on projects related to science, math, technology and engineering. The labs supplement learning that already occurs in these subjects in the regular classroom setting. The labs increase the opportunity for students to make connections in the following ways:

•Apply knowledge and skills learned in their academic classes to problem-solving tasks and projects;

•Collaborate on long and short-term projects with local STEM community partners from Georgia Southern University like the Interdisciplinary STEM Institute, the Center for Sustainability, the Math and Physics Department and other departments, the Wildlife Education Center, Multimedia Development Center, and Fabrication Lab (FAB Lab). Other partners include Ogeechee Technical College's Natural Resources program, the Statesboro-Bulloch County Chamber of Commerce Agribusiness Committee and ag leaders, the local University of Georgia Extension Service, the Georgia Youth Science Technology Center.

•Improve student familiarity with data collection and how to use data to formulate evidence-based conclusions in order to pursue more advanced, long-term projects with the entities listed above.

All of the school system’s elementary schools now have a dedicated STEM teacher and eight of the schools have a lab up and running. Portal Elementary, for this year, will use a push-in model, where the STEM teacher comes to the students’ classrooms to share these same projects and resources. The school will continue to work toward the full lab concept for the future.

About America’s Farmers

The America’s Farmers campaign highlights the importance of modern U.S. Agriculture through communications and community outreach programs that partner with farmers to impact rural America. To learn more, visit America’s Farmers at www.AmericasFarmers.com.

About the Monsanto Fund

The Monsanto Fund, the philanthropic arm of Monsanto Company, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening the communities where farmers and Monsanto Company employees live and work. Visit the Monsanto Fund at www.monsantofund.org.

About the Bulloch County Farmers

These are the local farmers, who helped make this grant possible: Will Anderson, Tommy Anderson, John Emery Brannen, and Barbara Rushing of Register; Kathryn Bowen, Gina Deal, Amanda Klingel, Shelly Phillips, Trey Renfroe, Alan Spence and Chris Thompson of Statesboro; Neville Rawls and Ray Sanders of Brooklet; Melanie Reddick of Portal and Angela Wofford of Jacksonville, GA.

Alexander (Xander) Smith, a seventh-grade student at Southeast Bulloch Middle School, has been selected to serve on State School Superintendent Richard Woods’ 2016-2017 Student Advisory Council. The Council, made up of middle and high school students, will meet throughout the school year to discuss the impact of state policies in the classroom, education-related issues, and participate in service projects to benefit schools and students. Out of more than 800 applicants, Smith was chosen to be one of 108 members of the Council based on the strength of his essay responses.

“Meeting with my Student Advisory Council has been, and will continue to be, an invaluable part of my decision-making process,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said in a prepared statement from the GaDOE. “To develop child-focused, classroom-centered policies, we have to hear directly from students. We can only improve their educational experiences by bringing them to the table.”

Part of the selection process for Xander and the other applicants across the state was to submit written responses about their ideas for impacting the overall quality of public education in Georgia, and how their educational experience could be improved.

Some of Xanders ideas included the following:
• Afterschool programs for middle school students
• Better homework support for students and parents
• Better organize homework by focusing on one subject per night
• Set aside the last 30 minutes of school for homework support
• A student court to work with principals to establish school rules

“Xander is an outstanding student with a positive attitude and consistent concern for others,” said Dr. Torian White, principal of SEBMS. “I salute his parents for their cultivation of his gifts, and I'm proud that he will represent SEBMS and Bulloch County Schools.”

In his essay Xander also emphasized the importance of community service in education. “I would encourage schools to incorporate community service into their curriculum,” he said. “An example would be a science class doing community service that involves cleaning up a pond. You would learn about the ecosystems of the pond while making a difference in your community.”

“His application responses reflect a great depth of thought about ways to enhance adolescents' experience in middle school,” Dr. White said. “I'm particularly impressed with his strong emphasis on community service.”

Xander believes schools should provide more opportunities for hands-on learning experiences in the community and at school. “I like to see what real-world things I can do with what I am learning, and I know that others do as well,” he said. He also noted his desire for middle school students to take a class on careers. “Career day is fun and educational but this is not enough for me to make a decision on what I want to be when I grow up.”

“It is refreshing and valuable to hear these students’ feedback and ideas,” Superintendent Woods said. “This is a fantastic group of students with great ideas for the future of our educational system, and I can’t wait to work with them.”

Xander is the son of Tracie and Alex Smith, of Brooklet. He achieves high academically and is already very active in the community. He is a member of the Nevils United Methodist Church, where his is active in his youth group. He is a 2nd Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo, which he credits with providing him leadership skills, self-discipline and respect for others. He is also a member of his Taekwondo class’ SWAT team which allows him to teach classes for younger students.

His extracurricular activities also include being a member of Boy Scouts, where he hopes to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout. He plays French horn in the SEBMS Band and is a member of Bulloch County 4H. He also volunteers with the Haunted Forest of Statesboro, which raises funds for the Boys and Girls Club of Bulloch County.

Xander, Shylaci Sistrunk of Savannah-Chatham County Schools, Grayson Carter of Liberty County Schools, and Will Kroymann of Bryan County Schools were the only Savannah-area middle school students selected for the council. Isabella Martinez of Bryan County Schools and Mary Hamilton of Savannah-Chatham County Schools are high school representatives from this area. Nine Bulloch County Schools students have served on the Council in the past seven years.

The State Superintendent Student Advisory Council will meet September 12, November 7, February 13, and April 10 for middle school students, and September 13, November 8, February 14, and April 11 for high school students at the Georgia Department of Education’s offices in Atlanta.

Hannah Elrick, a Southeast Bulloch High School Career Technical and Agricultural Education teacher and National FFA Organization advisor, was named a National Association of Agriculture Educators award winner for Georgia's Region Four. Elrick will be recognized at the 2016 NAAE Convention in Las Vegas, Nov. 29 – Dec. 3. Elrick is one of two instructors for SEBHS’s 11 agriculture-related career pathways.

Andrew Harvey, a teacher at Portal Middle High School, has been selected as a teacher advisor for WGBH, a public broadcasting station in New England, and their collaboration with NASA. Harvey will help design digital resources for nationwide STEM curricula.

"Bringing the Universe to America’s Classrooms,” is an initiative to create new instructional models and digital media tools for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) learning. The digital learning resources will be produced by WGBH in collaboration with NASA*, and will be distributed free of charge through the Public Broadcasting System's (PBS) LearningMediaTM, reaching millions of students and teachers nationally.

Harvey teaches sixth- and seventh-grade science and is also a technology mentor, helping teachers throughout his system with technology. Harvey uses iPads with his students, and says that the success these tools in terms of sparking student growth has taught him the significant role technology plays in student’s lives and the limitless opportunities it presents to connect with others.

He is one of 50 advisers selected from over 650 applicants across the country, from a wide range of grade levels and subjects. The candidates were evaluated by reviewers who took into consideration geography, grade, number of years teaching, and type of school, as well as the candidates’ willingness to innovate in the classroom, resulting in a diverse group of teacher advisers.

Matthew White, a Career Technical & Agricultural Education teacher (CTAE) and SkillsUSA advisor at Statesboro High School, was awarded the Construction Education Foundation of Georgia's (CEFGA) Leadership Award for 2015-16. He received the honor at a special awards dinner during the 2016 GA Association of Career and Technical Education Summer Conference.

The CEFGA selected White due to his exceptional leadership among his CTAE peers and advancing the quality, delivery and innovation of construction education. “We appreciate all that Coach White does for construction education in our state,” said Zach Fields, director of school relations for the Associated General Contractors of Georgia.

“He has shown a level of initiative and work ethic that has really helped elevate construction programs across Georgia," Fields added. "He is a recognized leader among his peers, and he was our unanimous choice for the 2016 CEFGA Leadership Award.”

White is an instructor for Bulloch County School’s Architecture and Construction career pathway, which is housed at Statesboro High School. His ability to build partnerships with local and area industry professionals is creating opportunities for success for his students and the community.

Three years ago, Bulloch County Schools' student chess clubs, began donating chess boards and time clocks to Uganda and Kenya through the Sports Outreach Institute (SOI). How SOI, a faith-based organization, is using food, clean water and the game of chess to impact these countries can be seen on the big screen in Disney's new movie,"The Queen of Katwe," which comes to U.S. theaters Sept. 26.

"The Queen of Katwe," is based on the true story of Phiona Mutesi, a young, female chess prodigy, who grew up in Katwe, Uganda, one of the countries largest slums. Forced to drop out of school at age nine because her family could no longer afford to send her, Phiona wondered into one of SOI's water and food ministries and also joined their chess program.

She became the first female to win her country's junior chess championship, and at age 17, she began representing her country in international competitions and the Chess Olympiad. Phiona now uses chess to bring international awareness to her country's needs.

"Our students have been able to get to kids who are not as fortunate as most of us,but are being trained in chess so they can have a better chance," said SHS Science Teacher Rich McCombs, who is Statesboro High School's Chess Team Advisor. SHS team members chose to raise funds for this project, and they were joined by fellow students in the district through the Ogeechee River Scholastic Chess Association (ORSCA). "Over the past three years, chess students at SHS and ORSCA have donated 70 chess boards and seven time clocks to SOI," said McCombs.

Pictured above are students from the Som Chess Academy in Uganda, with their shipment of chess supplies from Bulloch County. See Disney's trailer for the upcoming movie, "The Queen of Katwe," via this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4l3-_yub5A

The Bulloch County Board of Education approved Dr. Laurie B. Mascolo as the interim principal of Portal Elementary for the remainder of the 2016-2017 school year. Mascolo has been serving as acting principal of the school since July 29, when she was appointed to the position by Superintendent of Schools Charles G. Wilson. She fills the vacancy left by Portal’s former principal, Paul Hudson, who resigned Aug. 1.

“I'm ready to serve the students, staff, and Portal community in this new capacity,” Mascolo said after Thursday’s Board of Education meeting. “We've had a strong start to the school year, and I look forward to supporting opportunities to help our students succeed.”

Mascolo served as Portal Elementary’s assistant principal (AP) for nearly four years beginning in October 2012. She was first a shared AP serving part-time at Portal and part-time as a second AP at Julia P. Bryant Elementary, then was made full-time AP at Portal in July 2014.

She began her career with Bulloch County Schools in October 2009, as a special education program supervisor. From 1993 – 2008, she was a classroom teacher and served in schools in Farmington and Wilton, Maine, and Manchester and Hartford, Connecticut. She also served as principal of the CREC Polaris Center, a special education school for sixth through twelfth-grade students in East Hartford, CT.

Mascolo has a doctorate degree in educational leadership from Georgia Southern University. She received her master’s and specialist’s degrees in educational leadership from Central Connecticut State University, and her bachelor’s degree in English and secondary education from the University of Maine.

The Board also approved Farrah Reddick, Portal Elementary’s intervention coordinator, as interim assistant principal. Reddick has served the school system for 18 years, the last eight at Portal Elementary.

Reddick is a graduate of Georgia Southern with a bachelor’s degree in middle grades education, a master’s degree in education and a specialist’s degree in reading. She also has a leadership certification from Valdosta State University. “It is an honor to serve as an administrator in the same community where I was a student myself,” said Reddick.

Bulloch County Schools’ three Focus Schools, Langston Chapel Elementary School (LCES), Mattie Lively Elementary School (MLES) and William James Middle School (WJMS), will host information meetings with their students’ parents and guardians in August (see below for schedule). The meetings are a time to learn more about each school’s designation as a Focus School by the Georgia Department of Education and develop a school plan that delivers the necessary support to address the learning needs of children and increase their academic success.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 requires school systems to notify parents and guardians, who have a child attending a Title I school, how well the school is preparing students for college and career, as well as the school’s designation under Georgia’s ESEA Flexibility Waiver. Under the 2015 renewal of Georgia’s ESEA Flexibility Waiver, certain Title I schools are designated as Reward, Priority, or Focus Schools.

Despite the progress made by students at LCES, MLES, and WJMS, the three schools are designated as Focus Schools under Georgia’s ESEA Flexibility Waiver for the 2016-2017 school year. This designation is based on the school’s three-year average (2012, 2013, and 2014) College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI) Achievement Gap score. Schools keep this designation until exit criteria for Focus School status are met.

As Focus Schools, these schools’ faculty and administrators will work together with the school district, parents, guardians, and the community to develop school plans that deliver the necessary support to address the learning needs of students and increase their academic success.

An important part of any school’s success is parent participation and support. The school district and schools welcome involvement by parents and the community for school improvement as we work together to monitor student achievement and set high expectations.

A Title I School is one which has high numbers or percentages of children from low-income families. Title I schools receive additional federal funds to help school districts ensure all children meet academic standards. Only Title I schools receive a Focus or Priority designation. All of Bulloch County Schools’ campuses are Title I schools except Statesboro High School and Southeast Bulloch High School. Under the state’s school accountability system, Bulloch County Schools has the following:

Two Reward Schools: Brooklet Elementary (BES) and Portal Middle High (PMHS). Under the Reward School designation, BES is a Highest Performing school. It is one of the 81 Highest Performing schools in the state. Portal Middle High School is a Highest Progress, one of 162 to receive the honor in the state. This is the fourth and third years in a row respectively that the schools have made the list.

Three Focus Schools: LCES, MLES and WJMS. Focus schools are the 10 percent lowest performing schools in the state based on achievement gaps between student subgroups within a school.

No Priority Schools. Priority Schools are the five percent lowest performing schools in the state based on the performance of all students in a school.

The district’s remaining Title I schools did not require a school improvement designation based on CCRPI results.

It was the first day of class for Bulloch County Schools' 15 campuses and Transitions Learning Center. "I visited more than 50 classrooms this morning, and learning was taking place," said Superintendent of Schools Charles Wilson. "I commend all of our faculty and staff for how they have prepared for this day and the year ahead."

Superintendent Charles Wilson hosted the district's annual first-day press conference today at the Central Office. These are highlights from the first day.

Attendance

Opening day attendance was 10,073 students compared to 9,683 students on the first day last year. The school system ended the 2016-17 school year with an enrollment of 10, 370.Administrators expect attendance to increase over the next two weeks and enrollment to reach more than 10,500 students by the end of the year.

Transportation

A team of 113 drivers, 17 bus monitors, 21 maintenance personnel and 7 mechanics ensured that more than 5,000 students were transported safely to school on time this morning. They will transport approximately that same number home this afternoon.

Bulloch County Schools' bus drivers travel more than 6,000 each day. They will also provide transportation for more than 1300 field trips and athletic events. Drivers will log more than 1.1 million miles by the end of the school year.During the first few weeks of school, the district's Transportation Department will be providing bus safety training to all students. Georgia First Lady Sandra Deal will visit the school system this month to kick off her school bus safety campaign.

Technology

A power outage occurred over the weekend in the main data closet at Langston Chapel Elementary. It caused overheating which resulted in failure of the main core switch and network equipment that serves Langston Chapel Elementary and Langston Chapel Middle. As a result, the schools did not have Internet or land line telephone service. Administrators were equipped with cellular telephones and radios for voice communications. Office personnel had access to Internet via mobile devices as needed.

Portal Elementary School

Portal Elementary School Acting Principal Laurie Mascolo and her faculty and staff welcomed nearly 400 students to Portal Elementary this morning. "I am proud of the way the school's personnel worked together to provide these children with a great first day," said Superintendent Charles Wilson.

During today's press conference, Wilson made visiting media aware that he had received a written resignation, effective today, from Paul Hudson, an employee of the school. Wilson had suspended Hudson Friday after the Effingham County Sheriff's Department notified him on July 28, that Hudson had been arrested.

The Effingham County Sheriff’s Department notified me Thursday, evening, after 9:00 p.m., that they had arrested Paul Hudson, principal of Portal Elementary School, for solicitation in their jurisdiction. I am deeply saddened and disturbed by this information. His alleged actions are not in keeping with the core values we expect all of adults and students in our district.

Mr. Hudson has been employed by the Bulloch County Board of Education since 1999. He served as Portal Elementary’s assistant principal from 1999-2001, and became principal in 2001.

Our school district has never received any complaints of this nature about Mr. Hudson from the public, parents or students. He has never been reprimand by our school system for this type of behavior. Mr. Hudson and all of our employees submit to full state and federal criminal background checks prior to employment and then every five years thereafter. Mr. Hudson’s background checks have never revealed criminal behavior. His last background check was in February 2012.

My first priority moving forward is to ensure the safety of all the children in our care, especially those at Portal Elementary School. Mr. Hudson has been immediately suspended from all of his duties pending completion of legal proceedings.

I met with the Portal Elementary School faculty and staff this morning. I have appointed the school’s assistant principal, Laurie Mascolo, as the acting principal to lead the school.

Our district personnel will offer counseling and support to the students, faculty and staff at the school. I will reach out to parents and the Portal Elementary family and work with them to ensure we are ready to meet and prepare their children for success from day one and beyond.

If anyone has any information pertinent to this investigation, they are encouraged to contact the Effingham County Sheriff’s Department. We always encourage anyone to report any suspicious behavior to law enforcement.

Bulloch County Schools released its 2016-17 Annual Report in July. The 16-page report is featured inside the July/August issue of Statesboro Magazine, on the district's website , attached below and at the Central Office.

The community can read messages from Board of Education Chairman Mike Herndon and Superintendent of Schools Charles Wilson. The school system's five-year strategic plan, financial highlights and school accountability reports are included as well as special articles and news tips about student and faculty successes.

The Bulloch County Board of Education will have its regular session meeting on Thursday, July 28, 6:30 p.m., in the Central Office Boardroom at 150 Williams Road in Statesboro. Key topics for discussion include e2020 Curriculum Software for high school and middle school course credit recovery, proceeds from the sale of the former Sallie Zetterower property, the Maintenance & Operations Millage Rate for fiscal year 2017 and the district's school zone transfer policy. A complete Board meeting agenda and packet is attached.

The Bulloch County Board of Education, at its July 28 work session, will place on the table for review the school district's proposed 2016 School Maintenance and Operations millage rate. The Board will vote on the proposed millage rate at its Aug. 11, regular session meeting. The school system's 2016 tax digest, five-year history is attached.

The Board is proposing to roll back the current School Maintenance and Operations Millage Rate of 9.848 mills to 9.804 mills due to an increase in local property values. The lower millage rate may not necessarily mean lower property taxes. This is determined by the assessed value of the owner's property.

For the third consecutive year Prevent Child Abuse Bulloch County and United Way of Southeast Georgia are sponsoring Stuff the Bus, an annual back-to-school supply drive for Bulloch County children in need. Donations of supplies are being collected now through Aug. 5. “We partner with Bulloch County Schools' social workers, who communicate directly with school counselors who have identified children at their respective schools who are in need of school supplies," said Lora Cooper, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Bulloch County.

Citizens who wish to help can drop off school supply donations at the following locations: Farmers & Merchants Bank, Core Credit Union, BB&T, Sea Island Bank, Queensborough National Bank, Renasant Bank, and Citizens Bank. According to Cooper, kindergarten mats and book bags are the most needed items. A flyer is attached below with other suggested items.

"We assist children and their families by collecting reserve supplies that can be tapped into now and throughout the year as children run out of these much needed school necessities.”

Bob Olliff, executive director of United Way of Southeast Georgia added, “We are hopeful that our efforts will help the children in our school system to have a successful school year."

Prevent Child Abuse Bulloch County and United Way of Southeast Georgia are also joining with Trinity Episcopal Church and St. Matthew Catholic Church, two long-time supporters of the Stuff the Bus campaign. Other partners are always welcome. For more information on Stuff the Bus 2016 and how you can help, please call the Outreach Center office at (912) 489-8547 or the United Way office at (912) 489-8475.

Bulloch County Schools’ national accreditation process is underway. Parents and guardians are encouraged to give anonymous feedback about the school system’s performance via print or online surveys available through August 31. A link to the survey is available on the district’s website www.bulloch.k12.ga.us and paper surveys are available at each school, beginning with Open House on July 28, and at the Central Office. The printed surveys are available in both English and Spanish.

(You may select and complete a survey for each school where you have a child)

The surveys are prepared and reviewed by AdvancEd, who oversees the accreditation process every five years. AdvancEd is the parent organization of the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI) and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI).

Input from the school district’s stakeholders is a key part of the accreditation process. AdvancED will also conduct interviews with focus groups of administrators, teachers, parents/guardians, students, and Board members and make on-site visits to schools and classrooms. School system employees and kindergarten through 12th-grade students will also be surveyed. Parents/guardians who do not wish for their child to be surveyed, should notify their child’s school in writing by August 5.

This school year the Bulloch County Board of Education and school system administrators will conduct in-depth self-assessments and work with an eight-person quality assurance review team from AdvancED. The team will spend time in the system conducting an extensive internal audit of the school system’s adherence to AdvancED’s standards.

Bulloch County Schools was previously awarded District Accreditation in September 2011. In that accreditation, Bulloch County Schools received a “Highly Functional” rating for AdvancEd’s Vision and Purpose Standard, and “Operational,” the second highest rating, for all remaining standards. The team commended the District for its caring and nurturing environments for students, its teaching force, and the genuine love that students, parents and personnel have for their schools.

Other previous areas of commendation were the following: (1) District’s proactive fiscal planning and actions that have placed the system on a firm financial foundation during turbulent economic times; (2) commitment to fine arts; (3) a technology plan that was developed, implemented and supported with effective training; (4) value placed on human resources; and (5) effective communication.

The 2011 team also noted three areas for improvement: (1) develop and implement strategic planning to tie all aspects of current long and short-range planning together; (2) establishing additional avenues for input from all stakeholders; and (3) developing a specific plan to address population growth of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students and other subgroups that continue to be underserved within the system.

The AdvancED accreditation process occurs every five years and is used as an internal evaluation and improvement tool. School systems participating in the process demonstrate a commitment to providing quality education programs aimed at improving student performance.

Advanced is the world's largest education community, serving and engaging more than 27,000 public and private schools and districts in 71 countries. Its mission is to advance excellence in education through accreditation, research, and professional services.

Parents and legal guardians of children, who will be new to Bulloch County Schools for the coming school year, should register children for school before August 1, the first day of classes. All school offices are open July 11 - July 29, 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., Monday - Friday to register students. Visit the Back to School Toolkit for registration forms and a checklist of documentation you will need at www.bulloch.k12.ga.us/backtoschool.

If your child attended Bulloch County Schools last year, but you have moved to a different school zone or were approved for a transfer to a new zone, please contact your previous school to request a transfer of records and contact your new school to register. Like with new students, this should be completed prior to August 1, the first day of school.

Bulloch County Schools' Back to School Toolkit provides parents and guardians online resources to prepare for the first day of school. Visit www.bulloch.k12.ga.us/backtoschool today for everything from registration forms, school supply lists, athletic physical forms, bus safety tips and more. Remember school begins on August 1.

AgSouth Farm Credit of Statesboro is collecting supplies, recyclables, and wish list items for Bulloch County Schools' STEM Exploratory Labs and other STEM initiatives as part of the company's 100 Days of Giving Campaign. If you would like to participate in this campaign to help provide consumable-type items for our teachers' and students' science, technology, engineering and math experiments and projects, see the attached list. Items may be delivered to AgSouth Farm Credit in Statesboro (40 S. Main Street) or to Hayley Greene at the school system's central office (150 Williams Road)

The Bulloch County Board of Education will meet for its regular session meeting on Thursday, July 14, 6:30 p.m., at the district's Central Office Board Room. Key topics will include votes on revisions to the Board's Promotion and Retention Policy IHE, the Transitions Learning Center's annual School Improvement Plan, the School Nutrition Department's paper, chemical and food bids, and proceeds from the sale of the former Sallie Zetterower Elementary property. A complete agenda for the meeting is attached.

The Bulloch County Board of Education approved to place on the table for review its tentative Fiscal Year 2017 Budget. The Budget is attached here and is available on the school system's website at www.bulloch.k12.ga.us/budget. It will also be advertised in The Statesboro Herald. The Board welcomes public input. The Budget will be on the Board's June 25 meeting agenda for discussion and possible approval.

The Bulloch County Board of Education will meet for its regular session on Thursday, June 9, 6:30 p.m., at the district's central office, 150 Williams Road in Statesboro. Key topics for discussion include an update on Senate Bill 386 and its impact to the school system, football and volleyball officials' agreements for middle and high schools, the Fiscal Year 2017 Budget and proposed revisions to the Board's Promotion and Retention Policy IHE.

In December 2016, Bulloch County Board of Education (BOE) employees will receive a one-time, three-percent stipend in addition to their regular salaries. The BOE unanimously approved the release of funds at its May 26 work session. The benefit, totaling $1.5 million, comes from state Quality Basic Education (QBE) funds.

Bulloch’s three-percent stipend will be calculated using each employee’s annual gross salary. Employees will receive a check separate from their regular paychecks prior to the end of the first semester which is December 19.

The $1.5 million is not an increase in state funding, but rather a reduction in the amount of austerity funds the state previously withheld from the district based on its QBE funding formula for Georgia school districts. The state’s inability to fully fund its QBE formula has resulted in a loss of more than $48 million to Bulloch County Schools since 2008.

Georgia's fiscal year 2017 appropriations bill reduced the amount of withheld QBE funds and provided $300 million for school districts statewide. According to language in the bill it "provides local education authorities the flexibility to eliminate teacher furlough days, increase instructional days, and increase teacher salaries."

To account for losses in state funding, in fiscal years 2010 – 2014 Bulloch County Schools had a total of 18 furlough days with a loss of $4,125,800 in salaries to employees. The school system also had one year, 2014-2015, which had a 179-day calendar instead of 180 days. During this same time Bulloch County Schools reduced its overall expenses by $11.3 million.

With sound financial management, the school system eliminated furloughs in FY ’15, and in FY ‘16 the district returned to 180 instruction days for students. In FY ’16, the BOE also gave all non-certified employees (employees who are not teachers) a five percent raise in their base pay. For certified employees (those with teaching certificates), the BOE increased the local salary supplement, equivalent to a 1.5 percent raise. The local salary supplement is in addition to the state salary scale provided to educators based on their degrees and years of experience.

Bulloch County Schools is offering a free Summer Feeding Program on weekdays (Monday – Friday) June 6 – 30. The program will provide breakfast and lunch to all children ages 1 to 18. Funding for the program is made possible through the school district’s School Nutrition Department as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National School Lunch Program.

Breakfast and lunch will be served at the following locations: Brooklet Elementary, Julia P. Bryant Elementary, Mill Creek Elementary, Portal Middle High School, and Mattie Lively Elementary. Two mobile sites will also be stationed in Brooklet at Plantation Mobile Home Park and Cody Lane Mobile Home Park as an extension of the Brooklet Elementary School site’s services. Breakfast is from 7:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m., and lunch is from 10:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. An additional lunch-only site will be at Grace Community Church for June 6-10 only, from 11a.m. – 12 noon.

For a school to be considered as a site, a school must have at least 50 percent of its students qualify for free and reduced meals and be within safe walking distance of residential areas. Summer Feeding Program sites also had to meet criteria for approval by the Georgia Department of Education and the USDA.

Bulloch County Schools and its School Nutrition Program do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, disability, age or gender. For additional information about the Summer Feeding Program, contact Bulloch County Schools Nutrition Director Megan Blanchard at 912-912-212-8620

Justin “JD” Motes, Portal Middle High School’s valedictorian, is the 18-year-old son of Earl and Karen Motes of Portal. His ascent to the top of his graduating class began in ninth grade, when he achieved the fourth-highest grade point average. Since then it’s been a steady climb. In tenth grade he was third highest, eleventh grade brought second highest, and this spring he learned he was valedictorian.

“JD is an awesome student,” said PMHS Principal Karen Doty. “He was dual enrolled at Georgia Southern his junior and senior years, in addition to his coursework at Portal. We look forward to watching him continue to be a positive force in the world.”

He already has 46 college credits completed making him a sophomore. “Time at Georgia Southern really pushed me forward as a student,” he said. However, the remainder of his college career will not be spent at Georgia Southern.

JD is entering the priesthood. He has been accepted to seminary at St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami, in the Dioceses of Saint Augustine. The Diocese covers the majority of his college tuition, but local scholarship honors, like the $1,000 Rotary Club Scholarship, will also help him reach his goal.

A member of St. Matthews Catholic Church, JD said he came to faith when he was 14. He expressed that he feels a strong calling on his heart to serve others. As a high school student he has been very active in serving those with Alzheimer’s through volunteer work with Silver Linings. He also ministers to homebound members of his church.

Father Douglas Clark of St. Matthews is JD’s mentor. He has been teaching JD Latin and Greek in preparation for his seminary studies. “When I first came here, he took the initiative to come to me and ask for my help,” said Fr. Clark. “We meet weekly, and he’s also learning Spanish and Italian. He’s an excellent student, who loves learning. I’ve come to admire him.”

While dual enrolled at Georgia Southern, JD took advantage of the university’s study abroad programs. He spent five weeks in Rome last year, where he took a writing course and refined his Latin and history skills. Of course he visited Vatican City and attended the Mass of Corpus Christi with Pope Francis.

“Besides getting hopelessly lost in Rome afterwards, that was a great day,” JD said. “I even got a selfie with Monsignor Guido Marini, the Master of Celebrations at the Vatican. He’s pretty famous, so that was great.”

His trip also included seeing the Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo’s famous works, “The Last Judgment,” painted in 1535-1541 along its alter wall and the Chapel’s ceiling painted in 1508-512. He took excursions to Florence, Venice, Pompeii and Sorrento.

“JD is a studious, goal-oriented person,” said Lance Parrish, Motes’ high school Civics and World History teacher. “I had the privilege to teach him. He doesn’t care to merely memorize facts and dates; he asked questions and participated in class discussions.”

Parrish was also JD’s Model United Nations advisor. “I can attest to his growth as a great debater and his gifted ability to think on his feet. He always requested to represent Holy See as a delegate.” Holy See is the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome (Vatican City).

JD received honors in eleventh and twelfth grade for his work in Model U.N. He was also an active member of the Beta Club and a member of Portal’s marching band in ninth and tenth grade. He plays piano, keyboard and wind instruments.

He and his classmates are a close-knit group of only 49 graduates, most of whom have been classmates and friends since pre-kindergarten. JD believes his times abroad and at Georgia Southern have prepared him to adapt to leaving Portal to follow his dreams.

Sara McCracken, the 18-year-old daughter of Mark and Julie McCracken, is Southeast Bulloch High School’s valedictorian and STAR student. “I really worked hard,” Sara said. “The end of my junior year I realized I had the highest G.P.A (grade point average), so I worked really hard to try and get valedictorian, and I studied a lot for the SAT in the summer.”

Her mother agrees that Sara is a very hard-working, determined young lady. “We could not be prouder of her, but we are most proud of her kind heart and how she treats people. Looking at her yearbook and reading what her peers have written to her about her kindness means so much to us.”

One of those peers is Sara’s childhood friend and next-door neighbor, Lainey Forbes, SEBHS’s salutatorian. Friends since the fifth grade, they have shared a great deal, so it was only fitting to share Saturday’s graduation podium too. Though heading to different schools in the fall, Sara to the University of Georgia and Lainey to Georgia Southern, these two have never let distance be an obstacle.

“Growing up we used an old swimming pool ladder to climb over the white picket fence between our houses so we could play,” Sara said. The ladder is still there; both young ladies have fond memories of its uses through the years.

“We had Nerf wars with her brother, Drew, and his friends, and the ladder was the area of imminent death; you couldn’t get over it without getting shot!” Lainey said. “The McCrackens also have chickens, and they always let us have plenty of eggs, but carrying two or three in each hand while going over that old pool ladder is difficult.”

According to Lainey the two have had many play dates over the years, dressing up in pieces of fabric, building small forts out of sticks and pine straw and creating stories about princesses and surviving in the wild. They will have lots to share about their new adventures during visits home from college. “I’m very proud of Sara for all she’s accomplished, and I’m even more proud that I can say we grew up best friends,” Lainey said.

Sara has been accepted into U.G.A’s honors program and is the recipient of the university’s Charter Scholarship and the Zell Miller Scholarship. She plans to major in English. “I really like literature, so maybe education, teaching or administration.” She also looks to possibly study abroad in a Spanish-speaking country, with three Spanish classes already under her belt, she feels the experience would help with her fluency.

Sara has been a dual-enrolled student at Georgia Southern this year, but loves Athens. “It’s an artsy, laid-back campus.” She describes her family as very “outdoorsy,” so she loves to hike, ride bikes and backpack. “I’m looking forward to biking around the Athens area.”

Sara is also an accomplished flutist. She was first chair in SEBHS’s Concert and Honor bands. “Sara is that rare gem of a student that only comes around a few times in your career,” said SEBHS Director of Bands Matt Olsen. “She is great at anything she puts her mind to and has a wonderfully positive attitude about it at the same time. She has been an incredible musician for us.” Though not planning any musical pursuits at UGA, Sara appreciates that the flute is something she will always have for personal enjoyment.

In reflecting about graduation and the traditional speech that she and other valedictorians give to their graduation classes Sara said, “SEB is a small school, so you become close to your friends and the people. It’s been great, but I believe our best years are yet to come.”

Alexis Cribb, Statesboro High School’s valedictorian, is the 17-year-old daughter of Denise and Rickey Cribb of Statesboro. If you have the pleasure of meeting this great conversationalist, don’t let her accent fool you. She was born and raised in Statesboro. “My parents are from Wisconsin,” she laughs, “And I get my love of talking from my dad.”

She credits her parents and the support they have given her for her success. “My parents build me and my brother up and encourage us. My mom makes sure we have really great meals. They see my hard work and tell me how proud they are of me.”

That example of encouragement has led Alexis to do the same for others. Through her membership in Statesboro High’s National Honor Society, she was a volunteer mentor this year for a third-grade student at Julia P. Bryant Elementary.

“We met two times a month during the school day at JPBES. We’d eat lunch together and play card games. Her mother was ill, so one time I brought supplies for us to make her a card together.”

Alexis was able to witness the positive effects of listening, encouraging and spending time with someone. “It was a privilege to mentor her. She did not know I was a valedictorian. I was just there for her.”

Alexis’ passion for helping others will serve her well as she plans to be a missionary in South America. “My plan is to attend Ogeechee Technical College (OTC) to pursue a diploma in Echocardiography. It’s a high-demand field and a skill I can use anywhere in the world. Once I graduate, I want to work part of the year and spend the other half of the year in the mission field.”

Alexis has been dual enrolled at Georgia Southern (GS) and OTC while in high school. Her coursework at GS included Spanish, another skill she’s mastering for mission work. “My mother actually began working to make me bilingual when I was four years old. As a child she would have Dr. Leticia McGrath, an assistant professor at Southern, come speak Spanish to me. Then when I was dual enrolled at Georgia Southern, Dr. McGrath was actually one of my first professors.”

Another skill Alexis began learning at four years old is the violin. She’s a member of the Averitt Center for the Arts’ Statesboro Chamber Orchestra along with fellow classmate and Bulloch County STAR student Nick Harvey, an oboist. “We did not have strings at Statesboro High, so this is an outlet for me to play. I hope to do something further with music in the future.”

One of Alexis’ favorite teachers was Richard McCombs, Statesboro High’s environmental science teacher. “I loved his classes. Everything we did was hands-on.” McCombs shared that Alexis is a student who consistently works hard to improve herself both in the academic arena and in her growth as an individual.

“She consistently strives to learn as much as possible about new subjects with new material and develops this into opportunities to help those around her understand concepts with a much greater understanding,” McCombs said. “From learning how to build a solar oven from scratch to designing a city to be ecologically friendly, Alexis has developed a caring nature of the environment.”

“Alexis is a diligent worker who displays an intellectual curiosity and a commitment to excellence,” added SHS Language Arts Teacher Rebecca Smith.

Alexis is very humble about being her senior class’ valedictorian. “There are so many kids that are deserving of this honor. We’ve all worked very hard this year.”

The Bulloch County Board of Education will meet for its scheduled work session on Thursday, May 26, 6:30 p.m. at the Board of Education, 150 Williams Road in Statesboro. Key topics for this meeting include the Fiscal Year 2017 Budget, Employee compensation options, and decisions on tabled facilities improvements at Stilson and Nevils. A complete agenda is attached. No published Board packet was necessary for this meeting.

The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) is working to get books in the hands of as many students as possible, through summer reading events, resources, and the donation of more than 100,000 books. This effort is to ensure students and families have the support they need to make literacy a priority this summer.

Statewide summer reading resources

Students can visit summerreading.gadoe.org to log the books they read this summer. GaDOE will keep track of books read and recognize winning students, schools, and districts.

Georgia’s public libraries, including the Statesboro Regional Library, have summer reading programs and activities throughout the summer. Utilize this resource and sign up for a library card.

When students don’t read during the summer months, they lose educational ground: research shows that students can lose up to three months of reading ability over the summer. This phenomenon – known as summer loss – can lower achievement potential and widen the achievement gap.

Fortunately, this summer reading loss is preventable. Research shows that children who read during the summer don’t suffer the same losses, and may even show some growth in their reading ability.

Bulloch County Schools invites parents and the community to share their input about the school system's Consolidated Local Education Agency Improvement Plan (CLIP). The CLIP details the district's programs that receive federal funds. This is an opportunity to ask questions and express ideas about how these federal funds are or should be used.

There are two opportunities to participate: Wednesday, May 25, 5-6 p.m. and Tuesday, July 26, 5-6 p.m.. Both sessions will be held in the Bulloch County Board of Education's board room at 150 Williams Road in Statesboro.

Key topics for input include the following:

The school system's District Parent Involvement Policy that guides the services, events and resources offered by our parent involvement coordinators.

The school system's Consolidated Local Education Agency Improvement Plan (CLIP). The CLIP is a consolidated planning document for each of the federal programs that the school system provides under the Elementary and Secondary Education (ESEA) Act and the Georgia Department of Education's Professional Learning Program. This consolidated plan eliminates the need for Bulloch County Schools to submit a separate planning document for each individual program.

If you have a child that receives any of the following services, this meeting may be of interest to you: (1) attends any of our 13 Title I schools (all schools are Title I except SHS and SEBHS); (2) special education; (3) English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL); (4) Career, Technical and Agricultural Education (CTAE); (5) migrant; (6) any academic intervention services; or (7) homeless intervention.

Bulloch County Schools' Transportation Department is seeking bus drivers for the 2016-17 school year which begins August 1. Interested applicants should apply at the Transportation Department's offices at 219 Simons Road in Statesboro.

The school system regularly trains applicants and its existing driving force. The following upcoming classes are being offered for interested applicants: CDL Prep Class, May 25 - 27, 9 a.m. - 12 noon; and Bus Training Class, June 6-10, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 pm.

Contact the Bulloch County Schools Transportation Department at 912-212-8645 for more information.

The Exchange Club of Statesboro dedicated a Freedom Shrine at William James Middle School, on Monday, May 16. The Club and WJMS faculty hosted a patriotic ceremony for students and the public that featured Col. Randall V. Simmons, Jr. Chief of Staff, Georgia Army National Guard, as the guest speaker. This is the fourth Freedom Shrine that the club has placed in the school system.

WJMS Art Teacher Autumn Horton and her students designed and painted a moving, military-themed mural to create a backdrop for the Freedom Shrine. It was unveiled during the ceremony.

The Freedom Shrine, sponsored by the National Exchange Club, is a collection of photographic reproductions of original documents from American history. The display includes the Bill of Rights, the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

According to the Exchange Club, the Freedom Shrine program is designed to remind Americans that the freedoms we enjoy today did not come easily and that these gifts must be cherished and protected. More than 12,000 Freedom Shrines have been dedicated in schools, military installations and government buildings since the program began in 1949.

Bulloch County will host its first Community Reading Fair on Saturday, May 21, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., at Statesboro High School. Book stations, fun activities, games, inflatables, music, food, book giveaways and more will make this free family event one that you will not want to miss.

The Reading Fair is designed to creatively get youth and young adults hooked on reading and inspire and encourage them to read during the summer. Educators and community organizations are collaborating for the inaugural event.

The Reading Fair will feature interactive reading stations staffed by school volunteers and local businesses. Each station is designed to engage the students and pique their interest about a specific book, author or series. Guests are encouraged to visit at least four stations.

Leading up to the Reading Fair, Bulloch County Schools is hosting a district-wide reading competition for all Pre-K -12th grade students. Participants who complete their Reading Passports could win gift cards, eReaders, a bicycle, a laptop or other great prizes.

The Bulloch County Board of Education will meet for its scheduled regular session meeting on Thursday, May 12, 6:30 p.m. at the Bulloch County Board of Education. Key topics for discussion at tonight's meeting include the following: (1) Update from the Facilities Committee on Stilson Elementary and Nevils Elementary roof and HVAC improvements; (2) Report on the 2015 College and Career Ready Performance Index; (3) Update on the district's development of a guaranteed viable curriculum; and (4) Presentations of Fiscal Year 2017 Budget process.A complete Board Packet is attached or available at www.bulloch.k12.ga.us/boardpackets.

The Georgia Department of Education released its annual College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) on May 3. Bulloch County Schools' press release about this data and a snapshot of each school's scores is attached. For more complete results visit http://ccrpi.gadoe.org/2015

Bulloch County Schools' third- and fourth-grade math teachers hosted the 5th Annual Reggie Dawson Math Tournament on Saturday, May 7, at Statesboro High School. The event is made possible each year by an innovation grant from the Bulloch County Foundation for Public Education. Members of the Foundation were on hand during the event and helped present awards to this year's winners.

The Reggie Dawson Math Tournament is one of three major mathematics competitions held locally to test students’ individual computation and team ciphering skills. The Southeast Bulloch High School Math Department hosts the Penny Sikes Math Tournament for fifth- and sixth- grade students, and older middle and high school students compete in the annual Georgia Southern University Invitational Mathematics Tournament.

The competition was named for a former Statesboro High School educator whose life and career were cut tragically short when he lost his battle with cancer in 2010. Local math teachers wanted to honor his memory and the excellent example he set for team work and academic excellence by naming the tournament in his memory.

The Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts (GDAA) selected the Bulloch County Board of Education (BOE) to receive an Award of Distinction for Excellent Financial Reporting for the district’s Fiscal Year 2015 audit. Caroline James, supervisor of the GDAA’s southeast office, presented the award to Troy Brown, the BOE’s chief financial officer during the BOE’s regular session meeting on April 14.

“I am honored to receive this award on behalf of our school district,” said Brown. “One person cannot achieve this by themselves; it takes the concerted efforts of an entire team. I would like to thank my staff, Susan Cassedy, Cindy Higgins, Terri Mullis, and Allie Woodard, who work diligently to ensure that financial accuracy is a priority.”

The award is presented annually to qualifying public school systems and two-year and four-year colleges and universities in Georgia, who strive not just for best financial practices but better. Last year only 27 school systems received the award out of the state’s 181 public school districts. The GDAA’s audits of these systems will continue through June, so a complete list of current award recipients is not yet available.

“We are very fortunate to have someone like Troy Brown over our Business and Finance Department,” said Mike Herndon, BOE chairman. “His reputation and professionalism is impeccable.”

The GDAA is a state agency that exists to provide independent, credible audit services promoting improvement in government. Their auditors annually review the school system’s finances.

About the Award of Distinction for Excellent Financial Reporting

This award was created in 2014 to recognize excellence in financial reporting and controls. It encourages governmental organizations to go beyond the minimum requirements of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and recognizes individual organizations that are successful in achieving this goal.

To receive the award, organizations must meet the following criteria: (1) Provide full supporting documentation to substantiate financial statements; (2) Provide financial statements in a timely manner; (3) Ensure all evidence is easy to locate and use for audit; (4) Have responsive managers that resolve all accounting standards and presentation issues in a timely manner; (5) Have key staff readily available and cooperative during the audit and not delay finalizing the audit; (6) Have no significant deficiencies or material weaknesses noted during the audit. Must have no more than three to five control deficiencies reported within the management letter; (7) Have a clear, unmodified audit opinion; and (8) Comply with all Transparency in Government requirements.

Bulloch County Schools’ Financial Stewardship

Resource optimization is a key strategic goal area in the school system’s strategic plan. Recognitions like these are an indication of the positive work being done in this area.

In the school system’s most recent accreditation process, AdvancEd commended the school system on its proactive fiscal planning and actions that have consistently placed the system on a firm financial foundation. The district’s sound financial management has also been recognized multiple times by Standard & Poor’s (S&P), the nation’s second-leading bond rating firm.

Bulloch County Schools’ Fiscal Year 2015 Audit began in November 2015, and concluded in February 2016. Auditors examined expenditures from all of the school system’s funds, audited the use of federal funds for compliance with applicable federal and state laws and regulations, and concluded with an in-depth examination of the school system’s financial statements. The audit involved virtually all departments within the school system, including business services, payroll, human resources, transportation, food services, federal programs and each school. In addition to the financial aspect of the audit, the GDAA reviews a sampling of employee salary calculations, benefit calculations and various other personnel information. The complete Bulloch County Board of Education 2015 Audit Report, including key financial highlights, is posted on the district’s website at www.bulloch.k12.ga.us/audits.

Southeast Bulloch High School’s Weight Lifting Team won the Class AAA State Championship at the Georgia Coaches Association State Weight Meet at Jefferson County High School on March 12. The event also hosted the Class A and Class AA Championships

GCA allows schools to bring up to 30 team members to compete in bench press and power clean. The Yellow Jackets 20-man team dominated the meet which featured four schools in the AAA Class.

Fifteen team members finished in the top-three of their divisions which led to a combined 120-point finish for the team and the state title. Jonathan Volskay was named the strongest weight lifter in Class AAA.

The year-around weight training program at Southeast Bulloch begins in the eighth grade under the direction of Coach Nick Cochran. The high school weight training program is led by Coach Jeremy Gantt and Coach Brandon Peterson.

A nearly $1000 innovation grant from the Bulloch County Foundation for Public Education is helping fund a new literacy program at Portal Elementary. Literacy Backpacks will support the school's goal of increasing student reading levels and providie home reading resources for families. The school launched the new initiative Feb. 9, during Portal Elementary's Family Literacy Night.

PES's Reading Intervention Specialist Betsy Mallard wrote the grant to help support the school’s goal of increasing reading skills. Mallard’s vision is to help provide literacy support for families by providing children with a literacy backpack. Children take the backpacks home, enjoy the reading resources and then return them and replace them with another backpack.

The backpacks include grade-appropriate books and directions in English and Spanish if needed. The resources allow parents to work with their children at home. The grant is allowing Mallard to initially serve 45 students in kindergarten – second grade. The backpacks include these children’s books: Angela’s Airplanes; Arthur Meets the President; D.W.’s Library Card; Duck, Duck Goose; Froggy Gets Dressed; Is Your Mama a Llama; Click, Clack, Splash; and The Stray Dog.

Correctly spelling oubliette and corsair earned Eric Lim, a fifth-grade student at Brooklet Elementary, the title of 2016 Bulloch County Spelling Bee Champion on Monday night. He was one of 12 participating contestants from the county's 14 public elementary and middle schools and the Charter Conservatory of Liberal Arts & Technology.

Lim, the 10-year-old son of Sungkyun Lim and Jee Yoon Byun of Statesboro, received a trophy and a $100 check from the Bulloch County Chapter of the Georgia Association of Educators (GAE). First runner-up Zandria Foreman, an eighth-grade student from Portal Middle High, won $50. All participants received medals for being their school-level winner. Awards were presented by Superintendent Charles Wilson and Board of Education Co-Vice Chairman Maurice Hill.

Bulloch's top speller now advances to the District 8 Spelling Bee at Savannah State University on Feb. 27. The District 8 winner will advance to the state spelling bee and possibly to Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C.

Pre-Kindergarten Registration, for the 2016-17 year, is March 1 – 11. Parents or legal guardians may register children for pre-k during this two-week period. You do not have to bring your child to registration. For the most up-to-date information about this year’s registration process, evening registration times, lottery drawing dates, required documentation and guidelines, visit our website at www.bulloch.k12.ga.us/prekindergarten.

Bulloch County Schools now has 12 Georgia Pre-Kindergarten Program sites. Our state-funded sites are located at our nine elementary schools and our three high schools. Our newest site is Statesboro High School, which is now an approved state pre-k program. Across the district we have a total of 19 classrooms, with space for 416 children. Our pre-k classes are for the full school day. Classes follow the same 180-day Bulloch County Schools calendar as our K-12 classes.

The Bulloch County Board of Education approved its 2016 meeting dates during its annual organizational meeting on January 14. The complete list of regular session and work session meetings and their locations can be found on our website. Board meeting agendas and complete Board meeting packets are posted online as well prior to the meeting.

Bulloch County Schools encourages parents to participate in the Georgia Department of Education’s (GaDOE) annual Georgia Parent Survey. This survey, along with the Georgia Student Health Survey II and the Georgia School Personnel Survey, gives parents, students and school system employees an opportunity to offer feedback about the climate and safety of our local schools. Parents have until Feb. 26, to complete the online survey, at www.bulloch.k12.ga.us.

The survey is accessible via any Internet-enabled desktop or mobile device and is available in both English and Spanish. Parents without Internet access may contact any school to schedule a time to take the survey there.

Responses are anonymous and submitted directly to GaDOE for analysis. Results will become part of each school’s Climate Star Rating on the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI), Georgia’s accountability system that rates schools and school districts on a 100-point scale. Participation in all the surveys is voluntary; however, at least 75 percent of each school’s employees and 75 percent of each school’s students must participate in their respective surveys to receive a Climate Star Rating.

The Georgia Parent Survey is 24 questions and takes five to ten minutes to complete. By selecting the appropriate school from the survey’s drop-down menu, parents can complete one survey for each of the different schools their children attend.

The Georgia Student Health Survey II’s and the Georgia School Personnel Survey’s questions are available for review at www.bulloch.k12.ga.us/gaclimatesurveys or by contacting the school. Like with the Georgia Parent Survey, all responses are anonymous and submitted directly to the GaDOE.

The Georgia Student Health Survey II has three versions: (1) third - fifth grades; (2) sixth – eighth grades; and (3) ninth - twelfth grades. These are brief, 15-minute surveys, but students should take the questions seriously. The results are used to guide Bulloch County School’s climate and counseling initiatives, health curriculum, drug prevention education goals and more.

Parents, who do not want their child to participate in the Georgia Student Health Survey II, can contact the school and complete an opt-out form, also available on the school system website. Schools will notify parents before they administer the survey to students.

The GaDOE does not make data from the parent and personnel surveys public, but it does post the student survey results. Bulloch County’s 2014-2015 Georgia Student Survey results are available at www.bulloch.k12.ga.us/gaclimatesurveys.

School climate refers to the quality and character of school life. School climate sets the tone for all the learning and teaching done in the school environment, and it is predictive of students’ ability to learn and develop in healthy ways.

There are four components that are used to calculate a school’s School Climate Star Rating. Each is weighted equally at 25 percent: (1) School Climate, which includes data from the parent, student and employee surveys; (2) average daily attendance for students, teachers, administrators and staff; (3) student discipline; and (4) a safe and substance-free learning environment.

Bulloch County Schools annually reports its schools’ CCRPI scores and School Climate Star Ratings to the public via the media, social media, website and the district’s annual report, Focus. For the most current information visit www.bulloch.k12.ga.us/testing.

Brooklet Elementary and Portal Middle High School are again among the state’s top Title I schools according to the Georgia Department of Education’s (GaDOE) list of Reward schools released Dec. 11. Based on 2014-15 data collected for the state’s accountability system, the College & Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI), BES is a “Highest Performing” school, and PMHS is a “Highest Progress” school. Respectively, this is the fourth and third years in a row the schools have made the list.

“These schools and districts are working against the odds to provide opportunities for their students,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said in a statement released by GaDOE. “These excellent outcomes translate into changed lives for thousands of students.”

BES is one of 81 Highest Performing schools in the state. Its third-fifth grade students posted higher scores than the state and the district across all subjects (English Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies) on the Georgia Milestones Assessment System’s 2015 End of Grade tests.

“BES owes much of its success to the strong instructional collaboration of our teachers,” Principal Marlin Baker said. “We are committed to developing a culture of innovation in our school.”

Faculty collaboration takes place in professional learning communities (PLC), a major district-wide initiative. BES’s effective use of PLCs among its subject and grade-level teacher teams teachers in one key to its success. Faculty share best practices, plan curriculum delivery and assessments, analyze student results from assessments, discuss student strengths and weaknesses, and plan interventions.

Portal Middle High is one of 162 “Highest Progress” schools. One reason is its steady increase in graduation rates. Now the second highest in the district at 84.9 percent, their graduation rate has increased more than 15 percentage points since 2011.

“Being considered a Reward School, for three years in a row, is something we plan to celebrate in a big way,” Principal Karen Doty said. “We are extremely proud of our progress which has taken place due to a wide range of initiatives.”

Doty points to changing the school’s schedule to a seven-period day, providing remediation opportunities and faculty collaboration as key factors in the school’s steady progress since 2010.

Through needs identified in faculty PLC discussions, the school adjusted its master schedule to maximize instruction and remediation time for students.

“Students now have more opportunities for one-on-one instruction and feedback,” said Doty. PMHS is also offering after-school tutoring and additional career learning opportunities through partnerships with Ogeechee Technical College and Georgia Southern University.

Brooklet’s and Portal’s administrators and teacher-leader teams are also effectively using school improvement training provided to them by the district through the Georgia Leadership Institute for School Improvement. “We utilize the GLISI process in order to continually evaluate our school improvement plans,” Doty said. “Our leadership team is guiding and monitoring the goals and initiatives we identified in our school improvement plan.”

In 2012 CCRPI replaced Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as an indicator of school performance for the state’s Title I schools. “Reward” status is one of four accountability designations for Title I schools (Priority, Focus, Reward and Alert). Thirteen of Bulloch County’s 15 schools are Title I designees, with the exception of Statesboro High and Southeast Bulloch High.

A “Highest-Performing School” is a school among the top five percent of Title I schools in the State that has the highest absolute performance over three years for the “all students” group on statewide assessments. A “High-Progress School” is among the top 10 percent of Title I schools in the State that is making the most progress in improving the performance of the “all students” group over three years on the statewide assessments. Schools may not receive either of these designations if they have been identified as a Priority, Focus, or Alert school. None of BCS’s campuses are identified as Priority or Alert.

Bulloch County Schools does not have any schools on the Priority or Alert lists. William James Middle School, Mattie Lively Elementary and Langston Chapel Elementary were designated as Focus schools in July 2015. This was the first designation for MLES and LCES. WJMS has been on the Focus list since 2012. Focus Schools are the lowest performing 10 percent of Title I schools in the state, and receive increased resources and support from the state and school district to address needs.

Langston Chapel Elementary won $11,500 from the United States Apple Association and its partners to fund a complete playground makeover and 18 iPads for a classroom. Submitted by LCES teachers Katie Jasionowski and Melanie Kirby, the projects were two of 11 national contest finalists for which supporters voted online via social media and posted pictures of themselves enjoying apples.

“Apples for Education: Buy an Apple, Help a Student,” sponsored by the United States Apple Association and four apple-pairing food brands, encouraged schools to promote eating healthier with apples and to submit project proposals. The school received word on Dec. 7 that its #PlaygroundMakeover and #iDontHaveipads projects had won first and third place. The playground project received $10,000 and the iPad project received $1,500.

Jasionowski and Kirby gained support by promoting snacking on apples and any products you can pair with apples, like cheese or sausages from the contest’s co-sponsors Kind Health Snacks, Johnsonville, Roth and Marzetti. They hosted school-wide events like Apple Palooza, involved their students’ families, and encouraged apple eating from the lunchroom to the classroom.

Supporters took pictures of their apple snacks or themselves enjoying the snacks and uploaded the pictures to an Instagram, Twitter or Facebook account with the tag #Apples4Ed, #iDontHaveiPads, and #PlaygroundMakeover. More than 1,000 images were posted in support of the projects.

The Georgia Department of Education released preliminary 2014-15 Georgia Milestones Assessment System scores on Nov. 16, for End of Grade (3-8) and End of Course (9-12). This was the first use of Georgia Milestones, the state’s new comprehensive testing system. This inaugural snapshot, as predicted, reveals that fewer students statewide scored proficient on the more rigorous assessment, including, those in Bulloch County.

Under the previous Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT), Georgia had some of the lowest expectations for student achievement in the nation as noted by the gap between students’ performance on state assessments and their performance on other national measures of student achievement. The higher bar for student proficiency set by Georgia Milestones is aimed at better preparing students for college and career and providing a more realistic picture of academic progress.

“This initial data gives us only part of our student performance picture, as student growth results will not be available for several months,” Superintendent Charles Wilson said. “However, we will use what we have to inform our current efforts.” Complete reports of Bulloch County Schools’ data and more frequently asked questions about Georgia Milestones are available at www.bulloch.k12.ga.us/testing.

Bulloch County Schools’ administrators have known that the implementation of more rigorous state academic standards would also lead to more rigorous state assessments for which most students would not be ready. More than 300 educators from across the state, including some from Bulloch County, participated in this standard-setting process.

“Teachers made a resounding recommendation to raise our state’s expectations for student learning,” said Dr. Melissa Fincher, Deputy Superintendent for Assessment and Accountability at the Georgia Department of Education. For this reason, the school system has placed major focus on its planning processes, assessment and instructional practices and culture.

“Two years ago our schools began the hard work of implementing key research-based initiatives that we know work when done properly,” said Wilson. “Teachers and administrators now have the planning and assessment tools, professional learning, site-based flexibility, and other resources to impact changes they think matter. We have some very energetic and committed professionals putting these opportunities into action on behalf of children.”

A big challenge we have right now is that local schools are in the middle of an implementation gap. “The good news is that we, from the board to the classroom, have committed that we will follow through,” said Wilson. “Our belief that everyone can learn, grow, and find success in a continuous improvement culture that values collaboration and innovation, sums up what we expect. We are in pursuit of student success and we will hold ourselves, and each other, accountable for the professionalism and commitment required. Anything less and we fail our students and each other.”

Wilson is encouraging principals to identify effective practices and determine how to replicate those efforts, while also mitigating barriers. In areas where there are patterns of concern, principals and their teacher-leader teams are evaluating whether the school is implementing appropriate solutions to address what is causing them.

“What is important to look for at this point are the bright spots and warning signals showing up in the initial results, along with predictive data we are collecting,” Wilson said. “We have to use the key processes we put in place to investigate what caused positive and negative patterns. We have to use what works and remove what doesn’t.”

This 2014-15 Georgia Milestones data will not be used for promotion, retention or a percentage of high school course grades; however, the upcoming Winter 2015 EOC, Spring 2016 EOC and Spring 2016 EOG will be used. Parents whose children took the End of Grade (3-8) assessment last year will receive prior to December 18, a four-page, in-depth report on their child’s performance. End of Course reports (9-12) are not yet available from the state.

The individualized reports provide information that describes how prepared a child is to move on to the next grade level, course or next endeavor. Parents can schedule time to talk with their child’s teacher about the student’s strengths and areas for improvement. Parent engagement has always been important, but as Georgia raises its academic standards, it is increasingly important for all parents to better support learning at home as well.

In areas where a child did not demonstrate proficiency, parents can ask teachers to suggest ways to help build their child’s strengths. Bulloch County Schools’ parent liaisons are also a link to helpful resources. If parents would like to see examples of Georgia Milestones questions or practice with their child at home for the 2015-2016 administrations of Georgia Milestones, visit http:gaexperienceonline.com.

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Important Information to Know About Georgia Milestones Data

The Need to Retire Multiple State Assessments

Georgia changed its assessments because the former testing programs were in existence for more than a decade and no longer met the needs of students, parents, schools, and districts. Georgia Milestones replaces the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT), End of Course Tests (EOCT), and the Georgia Writing Assessments, so it reduces the number of state-mandated tests students take as a result.

Putting the New Georgia Milestones Data in Context

Scores from Georgia Milestones cannot and should not be compared to the CRCT or other previous state assessments. Georgia Milestones reflects four Achievement Levels rather than just three and also provides English Language Arts scores that include information about reading, writing, and language skills rather than separate scores in those areas as was the case in the past. In short, the scores are not comparable.

At this point, state and local administrators caution not to use these results to compare school districts, schools and student performance. All schools have different challenges and student demographics. This is most evident in schools with higher populations of students with disabilities, students living in poverty or students, whose native language is not English. And while this has always been true, Georgia Milestones requires much deeper content knowledge, higher reading and writing skills and a much higher level of content mastery. This will affect several local schools like Mattie Lively Elementary, Sallie Zetterower Elementary, Langston Chapel Elementary and Langston Chapel Middle.

Many other factors related to implementing a new testing instrument also influenced these initial results. First, Georgia Milestones and the CRCT are two different tests, with different expectations set for student achievement. Georgia Milestones’ expectations are much higher. With the CRCT students could master as few as 50 percent of the test and still meet expectations. With Georgia Milestones, students must pass more than 70 to 80 percent of the content to be considered proficient.

Second, in addition to multiple choice, Georgia Milestones includes constructed response and extended response items which require students to generate, rather than select, responses. This is very different for Georgia students. The system also assesses writing and reading at each grade level/course.

Third, Georgia Milestones, with some exceptions for special education students with specific testing accommodations, will be administered entirely online by the fifth year of implementation. Last year all fourth and seventh-grade students took the test online. This adjustment may account for some lower results for these students. This year third, fifth, seventh and eighth grade will take the tests online.

Georgia students also knew this was a hold-harmless year, which may have caused some students not to do their best.

How Students Were Scored

Georgia Milestones assesses student learning along four levels of performance, compared to three, as was the case for the CRCT. These designations aim to shift the focus away from just test scores, instead capturing the progression of students’ learning. Additional performance levels help teachers better pinpoint where kids are and give students more opportunities to succeed. Also, the higher bar for student proficiency is aimed at better preparing students for college and career and providing a more realistic picture of academic progress.

Beginning Learners do not yet demonstrate proficiency in the knowledge and skills necessary at this grade level/course of learning, as specified in Georgia’s content standards. The students need substantial academic support to be prepared for the next grade level or course and to be on track for college and career readiness.

Developing Learners demonstrate partial proficiency in the knowledge and skills necessary at this grade level/course of learning, as specified by Georgia’s content standards. The students need additional academic support to ensure success in the next grade level or course and to be on track for college and career readiness.

Proficient Learners demonstrate proficiency in the knowledge and skills necessary at this grade level/course of learning, as specified in Georgia’s content standards. The students are prepared for the next grade level or course and are on track for college and career readiness.

Distinguished Learners demonstrate advanced proficiency in the knowledge and skills necessary at this grade level/course of learning, as specified in Georgia’s content standards. The students are well prepared for the next grade level or course and are well prepared for college and career readiness.

Promotion & Retention/Data Reporting

The 2014-15 data will not be used for promotion, retention or a percentage of high school course grades. The state has performed a thorough forensic analysis of ever part of Georgia Milestone’s launch from its administration, to the validity of test questions and results. This is why we experienced a one-time, significant delay in scores reporting.

For this year’s assessments, in order to be considered eligible for promotion, students in third, fifth and eighth-grade must be able to demonstrate that they can read and comprehend grade-level material. Students’ performance on the reading component of the English Language Arts portions will determine whether they are reading on, above or below grade level. Students will receive a Lexile score based on their reading skill. Also, students in fifth and eighth grades must demonstrate an understanding of grade-level concepts and skills in mathematics to be eligible for promotion. That means achieving at the Developing Learner level or above.

The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) will release scores from the first administration of the Georgia Milestones Assessment System’s End of Grade ( EOG for grades 3-8) and End of Course (EOC for grades 9-12) tests on Monday, Nov. 16. These tests were given last year (14-15). These results will NOT count toward your child’s current promotion, retention or course grades.

Why the delay in scores reporting? This is a new statewide assessment system, and with the launch of any new product, time should be taken to thoroughly evaluate what went well, what did not and what needs to be improved. The GaDOE has done just that. They have done an extensive forensic investigation of how the test was administered, how students performed, what test questions need to be edited, etc.

The 2014-15 scores establish a new baseline to compare 2015-2016 scores. The GaDOE is expected to report this school year’s tests (Winter EOCs, Spring EOCs and Spring EOGs) within two weeks of their administration, so there should not be reporting delays in the future.

1. What is the Georgia Milestones Assessment System?

Georgia Milestones is a comprehensive assessment system spanning grades three through twelve. It measures how well students have learned the knowledge and skills outlined in the state-adopted content standards in English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. Students in grades 3 through 8 will take the End-of-Grade (EOG) measures in each content area, while high school students will take the appropriate End-of-Course (EOC) measure for the ten identified courses.

2.Why did Georgia change assessments?

Georgia changed assessments because the former testing programs were in existence for over a decade and no longer met the needs of students, parents, schools, and districts. Georgia Milestones replaced each of the following individual tests: the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT), End of Course Tests (EOCT), and the Georgia Writing Assessments. Georgia Milestones reduces the number of state-mandated tests students take as a result. Further, Georgia Milestones includes open-ended test items in addition to multiple choice items allowing students to demonstrate more clearly what they know. The system also allows Georgia to send a signal of college and career readiness for each of our students.

3.What value does Georgia Milestones bring to our state and its students?

Under the former testing programs, Georgia had some of the lowest achievement expectations in the nation. Georgia’s commitment to providing a truer picture of student achievement was a paramount consideration in the development of the new assessment. Historically, Georgia has been portrayed as a state with one of the largest “honesty gaps” based on the information its former testing programs provided. In short, Georgia Milestones provides a more accurate view of where we are as a state and where we need to focus our attention to ensure all students are successful and can compete with their peers from across our nation.

4. How do teachers feel about the more rigorous standards and assessments?

More than 300 educators from across the state, including some from Bulloch County, participated in the standard-setting process. These teacher-led deliberations closely considered the expectations set forth in our content standards. Teachers made a resounding recommendation to raise our state’s expectations for student learning.

5. What are key differences between previous state tests and Georgia Milestones?

In addition to multiple choice questions, Georgia Milestones includes open-ended questions for students to explain their answers. This is a significant change for Georgia. Writing skills are now assessed as part of the English Language Arts tests. Georgia Milestones is transitioning students to online testing, not paper/pencil.

6. What are the achievement levels for Georgia Milestones?

Georgia Milestones contains four Achievement Levels rather than just three as was the case with the previous CRCT, EOCT, and Writing Assessments. This allows students, parents, and schools to have a more precise indication of student achievement. The four levels are the following:

• Beginning Learners: These students do not yet demonstrate proficiency in the knowledge and skills necessary at this course of learning, as specified in Georgia’s content standards. The students need substantial academic support to be prepared for the next grade level or course and to be on track for college and career readiness.

• Developing Learners: These students demonstrate partial proficiency in the knowledge and skills necessary at this course of learning, as specified by Georgia’s content standards. The students need additional academic support to ensure success in the next grade level or course and to be on track for college and career readiness.

• Proficient Learners: These students demonstrate proficiency in the knowledge and skills necessary at this course of learning, as specified in Georgia’s content standards. The students are prepared for the next grade level or course and are on track for college and career readiness.

• Distinguished Learners: These students demonstrate advanced proficiency in the knowledge and skills necessary at this course of learning, as specified in Georgia’s content standards. The students are well prepared for the next grade level or course and are prepared for college and career readiness.

7. How do test scores this year compare to those of previous years?

Scores from Georgia Milestones cannot, and should not, be compared to those provided by Georgia’s previous tests. Georgia Milestones reflects four Achievement Levels rather than just three and also provides English Language Arts scores that include information about reading, writing, and language skills rather than separate scores in those areas as was the case in the past. In short, the scores are not comparable.

8. I heard that the Georgia Milestones is harder than our previous tests and that state results are lower this year than in previous years. Is this true? Does this mean that students are doing worse?

Georgia Milestones’ preliminary state-level results did, in fact, indicate that fewer students in Georgia will score as proficient. This does not mean that Georgia’s students know less, or are performing worse, than in recent years. In fact, many indicators, such as Georgia’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), SAT, and ACT scores, have shown improvement on the part of Georgia’s students. The achievement standards (expectations) recommended by Georgia educators for Georgia Milestones simply reflect the greater demands of today’s academic, college, and career settings and the stiff competition that students will face as they move into their post-secondary experiences and/or the workforce after high school.

9. Will I receive a report with my child’s scores?

Yes, prior to Dec. 18, parents will receive a four-page, in-depth report provided by the GaDOE with their child’s End of Grade scores (Grades 3-8). Spring End of Course reports (Grades 9-12) are not yet available.

10. Where can I find out more information about Georgia Milestones and all testing?

significantly according to data released Monday by the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE). The Class of 2015’s rate of 84.5 percent is 9.4 percentage points higher than 2014, and 5.7 percentage points higher than Georgia’s 2015 overall rate of 78.8 percent. For five of the past six years the district’s graduation rate has steadily increased and been higher than the state’s.

“We see a trend developing not only in our student performance data but also in our measured behaviors as an organization,” Superintendent Charles Wilson said. “This is really important for sustained success.”

The U.S. Department of Education requires the calculation of adjusted four-year cohort graduation rates based on when a graduating class first enters ninth grade and the number of students who graduate within four years. It includes adjustments for students who transfer out of a school or district. Data for students who took more than four years to graduate, which is reflected in the Five-Year Cohort Rate, are not yet available.

Bulloch County Schools’ four-year rates rose significantly due in part to the state’s elimination of the Georgia High School Graduation test as a requirement for graduation. For 2015, recent graduates also had a one-year reprieve from the state’s End of Course tests counting 20 percent of their final course grades. This was due to the first administration of the new Georgia Milestones Assessment System for grades 3-12.

Statesboro High School (SHS) posted the district’s highest increase of 13 percentage points from 69.8 percent in 2014 to 82.8 percent in 2015. This is also four percentage points higher than the state and 5.3 percentage points higher than the state’s 2014-15 College and Career Ready Performance Index Targets (CCRPI) for graduation rates.

Southeast Bulloch High School had the district’s highest graduation rate of 87.5 percent, a 3.1 percentage point increase over 2014. SEBHS’s rate is 8.7 percentage points higher than the state and exceeds the CCRPI target by 10 percentage points.

Portal Middle High's graduation rate was the second highest in the district. It rose from 77.3 percent to 84.9 percent. This rate is 6.1 percentage points higher than the state and 7.4 points higher than the state’s CCRPI target of 77.5.

Beyond the effect of testing on this year’s rates, Bulloch County Schools points to the foundation of improvements it has put in place over the past four years as the reason for more students completing high school in four years. The school district began by developing a shared community vision, aligned expectations and a five-year strategic plan.

With key input from the community and educators, the district has now advanced its focus to improving system resources, installing data analysis tools to better drive instruction, providing employee professional development and adding key initiatives like Pathways to Prosperity and Move on When Ready to best match student academic and career needs with local post-secondary and workforce resources. School administrators and faculty are seeing the positive impact of this work.

“Schools are implementing research-based practices in planning and assessment, and our Board of Education provides increasing support to our focused efforts,” Wilson said. “We have to remember that high schools can't do this alone. We are focusing on student success as an aligned effort from K-12, and every year we continue in this approach, we increase that potential.”

“Our teachers are working more cohesively with counselors to intervene early with students and focus on the individual needs they have for additional academic and career support,” said Dr. Ken LeCain, of SHS, who is in his second year as the school’s lead administrator. “Our increase was precipitated by the tremendous efforts of our teachers.”

LeCain also points to the value of professional learning communities (PLCs), a major district initiative, and how effective they are for bringing faculty together to analyze student data to drive instruction and remediation efforts.

Southeast Bulloch High also uses data analysis to better focus on individual student needs. Principal Donna Clifton noted that her school increases graduation rates by doing the following: provide study hall during the school day; provide tutoring after school; analyze data to track each student cohort; build individual relationships with students; track grades and monitor progress; conference with students; conference with students and parents together; and develop plans for success for individual students and not have a "one size fits all" mentality.

One significant way that SEBHS revised its processes to better accommodate students was by allowing both morning and afternoon work-based learning sessions. Students who work and go to school full-time typically have to work nightshifts. However, to be considered a work-based learning student, they were only allowed to work afternoon hours. This put some students in the position of having to choose work over school. It put them at high risk for dropping out of school. The change allows them to attend their academic classes in the afternoon instead of the morning and still help provide needed income for their families.

“I am very proud of all of our high schools, as they each have unique challenges,” said Wilson. “The staff at each school has done an excellent job of taking the direction set at the state and local levels, along with the tools provided, to create opportunities for our students.”

November is Parent Engagement Month in Georgia. School systems across the state are highlighting the role parents, guardians and family members play in a child’s education. In addition, November 19 is National Parent Involvement Day, a time for all schools and families to reflect on the vital partnership needed between them for Georgia’s students and schools to be successful. In Bulloch County, a parent is engaging in education discussions at the state level on the state superintendent’s advisory council.

Katie Olsen, the mother of two children who attend Bulloch County schools, takes seriously the Georgia Department of Education’s call for parents to play a role in their child’s education. Having served in multiple leadership and volunteer roles at her children’s schools, she accepted an appointment to the state superintendent of school’s Parent Advisory Council (PAC) in 2014. She is in the second year of her two-year term.

Nominated by Bulloch County Schools Parent Involvement Coordinator Leslie Wiggins, Olsen serves with 35 other parents from across the state. Like Olsen, all were nominated by their local school districts. New members are selected each year by a committee of Georgia Department of Education representatives based on the applicants’ responses to questions on engaging parents and building parent capacity to ensure student success.

“Parents are a child’s first teacher and they are no less influential once that child enters school,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said. “It is essential that we partner with parents to ensure we’re providing the best possible education for every child. My Parent Advisory Council allows me to hear those parent voices and incorporate their feedback into my decision-making.”

As members of the council, parents will meet three times during the school year with Superintendent Woods to discuss public education in the state. Their primary focus will be increasing parent and family engagement to foster academic success for students, particularly in Georgia’s Title I schools.

The PAC allows parents to gain information and provide feedback on new educational policies and projects that affect students and families. Olsen will return to our district to share the outcomes of the meetings and serve as and advisor and ambassador in our community and schools.

In addition to the 30 members appointed by local districts, the six 2014-2015 winners of the Georgia Parent Leadership Awards serve as honorary, one-year members on the PAC. The council also includes representatives of Georgia PTA, Communities in Schools of Georgia, Georgia Family Connection Partnership, Parent to Parent of Georgia, United Way of Greater Atlanta, and Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning.

The PAC’s first meeting for the 2015-16 school year was October 26. Olsen and other members of the PAC had the opportunity to speak with Superintendent Woods in a group forum, hear presentations on various educational programs, and engage in collaborative work groups to provide input on the upcoming statewide Family Engagement Conference scheduled for February 4-6, 2016 in Athens. For more information about the PAC, visit the Georgia Department of Education’s website.

William Tyler Collins and Tanner Todd, students at Southeast Bulloch High School, were selected to serve on State School Superintendent Richard Woods’ 2015-2016 Student Advisory Council. They are part of a 110-member group of students from middle and high schools throughout the state, who will discuss the impact of state policies in the classroom with the state’s top educator. Collins and Todd will also discuss other issues related to education, and will serve as the superintendent’s ambassadors to our school district.

The council’s high school students met for the first time on October 1, and they will meet again on November 12. A third meeting is scheduled for March 31 as well as two virtual meetings. “Students feel the impact of our decisions every day,” Superintendent Woods said. “If we are going to develop child-focused, classroom-centered policies, we must hear directly from students. We can only improve their educational experience by bringing them to the table.”

Collins and Todd were selected from a pool of more than 1,500 students who applied to serve on the council. Students were chosen based on the strength of their essay answers, which focused on their ideas for public education and ways their own educational experience could be improved. The students selected are from charter, virtual and traditional schools throughout the state.

“It was refreshing and valuable to hear feedback from these students, as well as their ideas for education in Georgia,” Superintendent Woods said. “This is a great group of students with smart, varied ideas for the future of our educational system. I look forward to working with them and I’d like to thank every student who took the time to apply and share his or her thoughts.”

Several of Bulloch County Schools’ campuses are hosting events to honor veterans leading up to our country’s national observance of Veterans Day. These events are open to the public. We invite our local veterans and active duty military to attend any of these events.

Their presence can help teach our children the importance of our nation’s military and their sacrifices. It also helps children learn to respect our patriotic rituals, symbols, and songs of our country than to give them an opportunity to meet and honor those who have served and fought to protect our freedoms.

Friday, November 6, 9:30 a.m.

Portal Elementary “Thank You Heroes” Program

Under the direction of Portal Elementary School Music Teacher Debbie Cartee, students will present a patriotic program, “Thank You, Heroes.” All local veterans are invited to attend, and they will be recognized during the program. All veterans are also invited to have lunch following the program.

Monday, November 9, 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

William James Middle School Veterans Day Events

William James Middle School will honor our veterans and active duty soldiers with a day of activities and speakers. The day will begin with a school assembly from 8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. and will be followed by activities conducted by the local National Guard Armory.

Throughout the day Veterans and active-duty soldiers will be going into classrooms and speaking directly to students and answering their questions. The goal is to not only show support and appreciation for our veterans and active-duty soldiers, but also to allow students and the community to see some of the jobs and duties a serving member of our military experiences.

WJMS encourages all of the community, especially our veterans and active-duty military to come share the day with them.

Langston Chapel Middle School invites all veterans, active-duty military and their families to their annual Veterans Day ceremony as they recognize our community's military heroes from all branches of service and all conflicts. The school will host a drop-in reception at 1:00 p.m. for all veterans and military guests prior to the main ceremony at 2:00 p.m. LCMS parents are also invited to attend.

The program will be led by the students. It features guest speakers Dr. Francys Johnson of the Johnson Law Firm and Commander Jerry Walker and Dr. Enos Garvin of the United States Army’s Disabled American Veterans. The school’s chorus and band, under the direction of Lawanda Allen and Holly Lloyd, will perform patriotic music, including “Taps.” The Statesboro High School Army JROTC Color Guard and Exhibition Team will present the colors and perform. Students will also perform the Missing Man Ceremony.

Tuesday, November 10, 6:00 p.m.

Julia P. Bryant Elementary “Let’s Sing America” Student Musical

Under the direction of JPBES Music Teacher Tom Sye, fourth- and fifth-grade students will perform the musical, “Let’s Sing America!” Veterans and active-duty military are invited to attend. The musical celebrates our nation’s symbols and all of America’s great thinkers, heroes, dreamers and doers, who have worked hard to make our country great.

Wednesday, November 11, 9:00 a.m.

Langston Chapel Elementary School Veterans Day Program

Langston Chapel Elementary School's faculty and students invite veterans, active-duty military and parents to their Veterans Day program. They especially want to recognize students' family members who are veterans. The fourth and fifth-grade students will lead the program, which will feature the Statesboro High School JROTC.

Friday, November 13, 1:00 p.m. (Veterans Luncheon at 12 noon)

11th Annual Mill Creek Elementary Veterans Day Luncheon & Parade

Mill Creek Elementary School’s staff and students would like to invite all veterans and active-duty military to their 11th Annual Veterans Day Luncheon & Parade. The luncheon is at 12:00 noon in the cafeteria. Please RSVP for the lunch by calling 212-8780. The parade will begin at 1:00 p.m. in front of the school. Special reserved seating is available for veterans.

The Statesboro High School Musical Theatre Class is presenting a student matinee and a public performance of "High School Musical" on Thursday, November 19, at 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., in the school's auditorium. The show is less than 120 minutes.

Matinee tickets for students and parents of students in attendance are $2.00 each. Teachers and bus drivers are free. Please contact SHS Choral Director Lisa Muldrew for matinee reservations and tickets (lmuldrew@bullochschools.org or 212-8860)

The public performance of the show is at 7 p.m. in the auditorium. General admission tickets for the evening show are $5 each and are available at the door prior to the performance.

ATLANTA — State Representative Jan Tankersley (R-Brooklet) recently announced that she will offer letters of recommendation to qualified Georgia high school seniors seeking the Georgia Military Scholarship at the University of North Georgia.

“The Georgia Military Scholarship is an incredible opportunity for qualified high school students wishing to attend college and serve in the Georgia National Guard,” said Rep. Tankersley. “As I travel around in my district, I am very proud of the potential I see in so many hard-working young people. I know the future of our great state depends on the next generation of leaders, and it is my honor to play a small role in their educational success.”

The Georgia Military Scholarship awards 42 scholarships annually, each totaling $70,000 over four years. The scholarship covers the cost of uniforms, tuition, books, fees, room, and board, as well as a monthly stipend. In addition to pursuing a bachelor’s degree from UNG, scholarship recipients will be commissioned as second lieutenants in the Georgia Army National Guard upon graduation.

Applicants must be accepted to the University of North Georgia, and are required to present a letter of recommendation from a sitting State Representative or State Senator. To qualify, applicants must also be a legal resident of Georgia, have a minimum 3.0 high school grade-point average, meet the physical and health standards for serving in the Georgia National Guard, and be a freshman entering the UNG Corps of Cadets.

The deadline for scholarship applications is February 1, 2016, and interested and potential applicants may contact Rep. Tankersley’s office at (404) 656-7855.

For more information on the University of North Georgia or the Georgia Military Scholarship, please Click Here.

Representative Jan Tankersley represents the citizens of District 160, which includes portions of Bryan and Bulloch counties. She was elected into the House of Representatives in 2010, and currently serves as the Chairman of the Intragovernmental Coordination Committee. She also serves on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Economic Development and the Agriculture & Consumer Affairs and Natural Resources & Environment committees.

"The Perfect Ending" by B. Dwayne Craft, directed by Joni Mock. Don't miss a special public performance of this one-act play by SEBHS Drama students on Thursday, November 5, 7:00 p.m., in the SEBHS Auditorium. General admission tickets will be available for purchase at the door prior to the performance, and they are $5 for adults and $2 for students.

SEBHS competed in the GHSA Region One Act Competition with this play on Friday, October 30, and received "excellent" ratings from all judges. Hugh Granade, Autumn Harrison, and Sara McCracken were named to the All Star Cast and the play won third place.

Don't miss this story about Mother, who has a meatloaf in the oven and is well on her way to having the perfect dinner party, but one thing stands in her way—the end of the world as we know it!

Is that going to stop her perfect party from happening? Not at all. Come see the hilarious cast of characters that unexpectedly join the party. Mother will have to juggle a grease monkey, looting neighbors, an insurance salesman, her son's juvenile delinquent girlfriend and many other zany characters in an attempt to maintain a perfect house and to be the absolute perfect hostess, right up until the very last moment.

Will the world come to an end, or will Mother get to have her perfect dinner party? You'll have to come see to find out.

Statesboro High School's drama classes will present two plays based on classic works of literature by Ray Bradbury and William Shakespeare on October 29 and November 5, at 7:00 p.m. in the school's fine arts auditorium. One will give you a fright and the other a laugh.

Just in time for the spookiest time of year, the Thursday, October 29, performance is Bradbury's "Something Wicked This Way Comes." Based on his 1962 novel, it’s the story of two teens, who are best friends, Jim Nightshade and William Halloway, and their nightmarish experience with a traveling carnival that comes to their Midwestern town one October.

On Thursday, November 5, students will perform William Shakespeare's “As You Like It.” The story follows the heroine Rosalind as she flees persecution in her uncle's court, accompanied by her cousin Celia. The comedy features some of Shakespeare’s most notable quotes.

General admission tickets are $5 per show. They will be available at the door prior the event. All proceeds benefit the SHS Drama Department and its productions.

The Bulloch County Health Department will host Influenza (Flu) clinics in our schools beginning Monday, October 26 through early November. Public health agencies recommend an annual Flu vaccine for everyone six months of age and older.

Flu vaccines are usually available in nasal spray (FluMist) and shot form; however, due to an unforeseen production delay this year, most area providers have limited quantities of FluMist available. For this reason, children who typically receive FluMist, may receive a Flu shot instead. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your child's school. You may also contact your primary care provider about their FluMist availability.

There are sufficient quantities of the Flu shot for all of our school Flu clinics. The Flu shot and FluMist are equally effective.

The Bulloch County Health Department has scheduled the exact dates of each school's clinic. Watch for more information from your child's school about your school's Flu clinic date.

Children must have a completed and signed consent form to participate. For elementary school students, the BCHD sent consent forms home with students. For middle and high school students, the consent forms are available from the school nurse. For more information, contact the BCHD at 1-855-473-4374.

The Bulloch Alcohol & Drug Council will bring its annual Teen Maze events to Bulloch County Schools' three high schools on Oct. 20, 21 and 29, from 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Please do not be alarmed by the site of ambulances, public safety vehicles and personnel, judges, lawyers, coroners, health care professionals, and funeral home vehicles and personnel on our campuses. They will be helping carry out very real, visible and impactful scenarios for the Teen Maze which will reach more than 1,000 tenth-grade students.

The Teen Maze will be at Portal Middle High School on Tuesday, Oct. 20. It will be at Southeast Bulloch High School on Wednesday, Oct. 21, and Statesboro High School will host the event on Thursday, Oct. 29.

The Teen Maze is a unique, interactive learning experience that allows teens to go through life lessons in a practical, safe environment. The event is primarily directed at tenth-grade students, who are beginning to have more independence due to driving and dating.

Students enter the maze, but where they exit depends on the choices they make during the exercise. Students are randomly given choice scenarios. The scenarios determine which path the students follow through the maze and which public safety, judicial, medical, education and community support organizations they encounter.

Choices range from underage drinking, drug use, risky behaviors, bullying or successfully graduating from high school. Students will be able to experience the consequences of poor decision making with real life examples. The maze is staffed by more than 40 actual employees of public safety, judicial, community support and education entities in Bulloch County.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for our community to interact with the youth of Bulloch County,” said Christina Lewis, Teen Maze Volunteer Coordinator. “Community volunteers are often asked questions by students about the issues they face in the Maze. Students always remark about how it was interesting to talk with real community professionals in a neutral environment. It is a great networking tool and experience for our professionals and students alike.”

The Statesboro High School One-Act Play Cast will present, "Bad Seed," for the public on Thursday, Oct. 22, 7:00 p.m., in the SHS Auditorium. General admission tickets are $5 each and will be on sale at the door prior to the show. All proceeds go to assist with costumes for this and other Drama Department productions.

The cast will present this same production at the region One-Act Play competition at Glynn Academy on Oct. 24. Come out and help support ‪‬fine arts in our schools.

Bulloch County Schools will name its 2017 Bulloch County Teacher of the Year on Thursday, Oct. 15, at a reveal reception from 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m., at the school district's central office. The winner will be named from the 15 candidates selected by school-level faculty. The winner will represent Bulloch County Schools in the 2017 Georgia Teacher of the Year competition in Atlanta in May 2016, and possibly advance to represent our state in the National Teacher of the Year competition in January 2017. This is why the title features the year 2017, as it denotes the national competition for which the county winner is eligible.

The Bulloch County Board of Education and Superintendent Charles Wilson will recognize all the school-level teachers of the year and present them with a special gift. Afterwards he will reveal the judges' selection for this year's top teacher. The Bulloch County Foundation for Public Education will be on hand to present the winner with a check for $1000.

In the past seven years, four of Bulloch County Schools’ teachers of the year have been named top-ten finalists in the Georgia TOTY competition. One of those finalists, Jemelleh Coes from Langston Chapel Middle School, went on to become the 2014 Georgia Teacher of the Year.

Coes was the second teacher from Bulloch County Schools to earn this distinction. Julie Lanier, a teacher at the Marvin Pittman Lab School (now closed), was the 1985 Georgia Teacher of the Year.

Judges for this year's competition were representatives from Georgia Southern University's College of Education, the Bulloch County Foundation for Public Education, the Bulloch County Retired Educators Association, and the Bulloch County Board of Education.

National Manufacturing Awareness Day was Friday, October 2. Eighth-graders from Bulloch County School’s four middle schools toured industries in the Gateway Industrial Park from 8:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., to learn about the industries’ various operations and career opportunities at all levels.

This year’s local tour includes Viracon, Briggs & Stratton and Great Dane. Viracon is an international architectural glass fabrication company, Briggs & Stratton is a manufacturer of internal combustion engines and the world’s largest producer of gasoline engines for outdoor power equipment. Great Dane’s local facility is dedicated to manufacturing the Everest refrigerated trailers, the TL model reefer for truckload carriers and the CL model reefer for multi-temp and foodservice operations. These facilities have a variety of degree and skilled labor career opportunities.

The tours were arranged by the district’s Career, Technical & Agricultural Education Department, the school’s guidance counselors and school administrators. NMAD is held annually across the nation and participating industries use it as an opportunity to showcase their workplaces and help educate and encourage their community’s future workforces.

Eighth grade is a key grade level to target for the tour. These students will begin registering for their 2016-2017 freshman year classes, and developing their high school graduation plans at the end of the first semester. It’s also when they will learn more about the manufacturing-related career pathways offered at the school district’s campuses (i.e. Logistics, Mechatronics) and the partnerships with local industry and post-secondary institutions that provide work-based learning and Move on When Ready opportunities to help them get an early start on their careers.

Local industries have been very supportive of the school system's workforce development programs like Pathways to Prosperity, CTAE career pathways and work-based learning, and Move on When Ready. Briggs & Stratton has most recently opened its doors to helping build local skills by partnering with the school system’s work-based learning program. The facility has six internships currently filled by Statesboro High School students.

Bulloch County Schools (BCS) honored five new REACH Georgia Scholars at a signing ceremony September 10, at the Board of Education (BOE)’s central office. Chosen from 57 eligible, eighth-grade applicants, the students, and their families, were recognized by Superintendent Charles Wilson and members of the BOE and the Bulloch County Foundation for Public Education (Foundation). REACH Georgia, Move on When Ready and the HOPE Scholarship are programs the school system connects its students and parents to in order to help remove financial barriers to college for its students.

REACH Georgia is a needs-based mentoring and scholarship program designed to ensure that the state’s academically promising students have the academic, social, and financial support needed to graduate from high school and complete college. Bulloch County is one of five school systems that the state initially selected to pilot the program in 2013. The Georgia Student Finance Corporation (GSFC) holds the scholarships for scholars until they graduate from high school. GSFC Board of Commissioners Member Roy C. Kilpatrick of Statesboro was in attendance at the ceremony.

Each scholar now has up to $20,000 available to them to attend college. This $100,000 investment is made possible by REACH Georgia, the Foundation, and local post-secondary partners, like Georgia Southern University, East Georgia College and Ogeechee Technical College, who have agreed to double-match each of the original $10,000 scholarships.

This year’s scholars are the following: Conley Roberson of William James Middle School; Chris Angel, Taylor Cone and Jadon Jones of Langston Chapel Middle School; and Jean Delfin-Uscanga of Portal Middle School. “This is a wonderful experience,” said Chris Angel. “It feels like I can do anything now with my future.” Angel’s mother, Guillermina Mendez echoed her son’s excitement, “I’m very proud of my son. It is sight of a better future, full of hope for my son.”

Each of the scholars’ parents was in attendance to pledge their support for the program and encourage their children to keep a college education in focus. “This scholarship is the difference between college acceptance and becoming a college graduate for us,” said Alicia Pierce-Jones, mother of Jadon Jones. “Jadon’s future just got a whole lot brighter thanks to the REACH Scholarship.”

Opening doors for Georgia youth, who may not have the opportunity to seek post-secondary education due to financial constraints, is primarily why Governor Nathan Deal began the program three years ago. “This program is a strategic investment in our students and our state,” said Governor Deal in a statement released by REACH Georgia.

“It doesn’t matter where you come from, what matters is where you’re going,” said Taylor Cone. I plan to use that quote throughout my life.” Cone, who has her sights set on the medical field and becoming a doctor, receives encouragement from her parents. “We are so proud of Taylor for all of the hard work and dedication that she puts into her education. We’ve told her to always follow your hear and never give up on your dreams.”

To be eligible to apply for REACH Georgia, students must meet the following requirements: (1) be currently be in the eighth grade at a participating, eligible Georgia middle school; (2) demonstrate financial need; (3) have legal status in the U.S. (U.S. citizen or legal resident); (4) have and agree to maintain above average attendance and behavior; (5) have grade reports reflecting minimum grades of 75 or better in each core course (2.5 GPA); (6) have and agree to maintain a crime-free and drug-free record; and (7) have the support of a parent, legal guardian, or other committed adult.

Bulloch County Schools notifies eligible students and their parents and asks them to apply. A local committee of community leaders and educators review the applications and select 10 finalists. The committee then conducts face-to-face interviews with the finalists, and selects five winners.

Bulloch County Schools now has 15 REACH Georgia scholars. Each one receives mentoring and coaching through middle and high school, as well as opportunities to participate in various programs that will assist them in college selection and admission. The school system’s 2013 and 2014 scholars are now freshmen and sophomores in high school. Each continues to fully meet the program’s requirements.

As a pilot school system, BCS was originally awarded a total of ten $10,000 scholarships by the state, five for 2013 and five for 2014. Participating school systems must identify local corporate sponsors to continue the program. This year the Foundation donated $7,500 ($1,500 per student) to help fund the $10,000 base scholarships. More than 63 colleges and universities in Georgia have agreed to double-match and some triple-match these scholarships. All funds raised (100 percent) for REACH Georgia locally will go to future recipients.

Between 10:30 and 11:00 a.m., Langston Chapel Middle School, Mill Creek Elementary and William James Middle School all received bomb threat via telephone. School administrators notified public safety personnel and evacuated these buildings as a precaution. Langston Chapel Elementary, which is adjacent to LCMS was also evacuated.

Superintendent Charles Wilson made the decision to cancel school for these four campuses for the remainder of the day while public safety personnel complete their investigation. Parents are being being contacted via our electronic messaging system.

School buses have been mobilized and students are being taken home.

If your child is a car rider at the Langston schools, pick your child up from the Agricultural Building across the street from the schools.

If your child is a car rider at Mill Creek, please pick them up across the street at Mill Creek Park.

If your child is a car rider at William James Middle, please pick them up at the front of the school.

We will keep you abreast as more information is available.

While each school has safety plans in place, and any and all threats received via any means are taken seriously and reported immediately to authorities, the school district cautions any students or individuals that seek to maliciously disrupt a public school.

In Georgia it is unlawful for (O.C.G.A. 20-2-1181) any person to disrupt or interfere with the operation of any public school, public school bus, or public school bus stop in any way. It is also against the school system’s code of conduct for a student to perform any act which substantially disrupts the orderly conduct of a school function, substantially disrupts the orderly learning environment, or poses a real or possible threat to the health, safety and/or welfare of students, staff or others.

Anyone found deliberately initiating or taking part in any such act via any means or purposefully inciting fear and/or disrupting our schools will be prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law. This includes using social media to purposefully spread misinformation or threats.

According to a Bulloch County Sheriff's Department press release, Bulloch County Sheriff’s Investigators arrested a 12-year-old girl Tuesday evening, charging her with making two threat calls that shut down four schools.

According to the press release, BCSO investigators and Statesboro Police Department detectives took a 12-year-old female juvenile into custody around 4 p.m. Tuesday for making the bomb threats. She was transported to the Bulloch County Jail and charged with two counts of transmitting a false public alarm, two counts of disrupting a public school, two counts of reckless conduct, and two counts of terroristic threats. The investigation into the threats to Mill Creek Elementary continues and may result in additional charges.

Original Bulloch County Schools Release

Bulloch County public safety personnel issued an all-clear for William James Middle School, Langston Chapel Middle, Mill Creek Elementary and Langston Chapel Elementary at approximately 2:20 p.m. on Tuesday after bombs threats, received by telephone, closed the four schools earlier in the day. Officers used bomb-sniffing dogs at the schools, but nothing was found. All schools in the district will resume as normal tomorrow.

“The school system will continue to cooperate fully with public safety during their investigation,” said Superintendent of Schools Charles Wilson. Wilson and the school’s Chief Operations Officer Paul Webb, who oversees school safety, were dispatched to the schools during the incident.

“It is unacceptable to what we value as a community for someone to act in this manner against our schools,” said Wilson. “I am confident that with the advanced technology that we have installed on our telecommunications equipment to capture valuable information on all callers, we can and will provide information to help public safety apprehend and prosecute the perpetrator(s) to the fullest extent of the law.”

Disruption of a public school, school bus or bus stop by any means is against the law (O.C.G.A. 20-2-1181). It is also against the school system’s code of conduct for a student to perform any act which substantially disrupts the orderly conduct of a school function, substantially disrupts the orderly learning environment, or poses a real or possible threat to the health, safety and/or welfare of students, staff or others.

Anyone found deliberately initiating or taking part in any such act via any means or purposefully inciting fear and/or disrupting our schools will be prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law. This includes using social media to purposefully spread misinformation or threats.

Wilson praised the response and guidance from local law enforcement and school system employees. “I appreciate the overwhelming response from all public safety personnel: Bulloch County Sheriff’s Department, Statesboro Police Department, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Georgia State Patrol and the Bulloch County Emergency Management Agency. Their actions are always swift and in the best interest of our students and employees. I also want to thank all of our administrators, bus drivers, faculty and staff. We have received numerous compliments from parents who appreciated their calm demeanor and organization during the incident. Thank you as well to our parents for their continued support.”

To recap, today's events involved Langston Chapel Middle School, Mill Creek Elementary and William James Middle School only. LCMS and WJMS both received threats between 10:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. MCES received a threat via telephone at approximately 11:40 a.m. All of the threats were received via telephone.

School administrators notified public safety personnel immediately and evacuated these buildings. LCMS and LCES were evacuated to the Bulloch County Agricultural Building across the road from the school. MCES was evacuated to Mill Creek Park and WJMS evacuated to land adjacent to campus.

Just before 12 noon, Superintendent Charles Wilson made the decision to cancel school for only these four campuses for the remainder of the day while public safety personnel completed their on-site investigations. “We handle all safety incidents on a case-by-case basis and make determinations about school closings. We work closely with law enforcement to make informed decisions based on fact.”

In incidents such as these the school system’s first priority is to evacuate the buildings, relocate to a safe area, and account for all students and personnel before beginning the external communications process. The school system communicated with news media and parents simultaneously to ensure the quickest message dissemination and to ensure messages were sent out over multiple mediums. As always, please ensure that we have the most up-to-date contact information for your child in the event of any emergency.

In other news today, Stilson Elementary School experienced a power outage due to a blown transformer. There is no indication that this was anything other than a mechanical malfunction. There is no evidence that it was related to the incidents at WJMS, LCMS, LCES and MCES.

SES Principal Pam Goodman issued a call out to her parents this morning to let them know that her school was without power, but that lunch and school operations would continue as normal. Georgia Power expects power to be restored prior to school tomorrow. If this changes, parents will be notified.

The Bulloch County Board of Education will meet for its regularly scheduled work session on Thursday, September 24, 2015, at 6:30 p.m., in the media center of Portal Middle High School in Portal, GA.

Key topics for this work session include basketball officials agreements for middle and high schools, a bid proposal for a new automated scheduling system for substitutes and school improvement presentations by Statesboro High, Langston Chapel Middle and Southeast Bulloch Middle. A complete Board packet for the meeting is attached.

Anastasia Mullins, a student at Southeast Bulloch High School (SEBHS), is Georgia’s 2015 Trig-Star champion. She advanced to state by having the highest scores at both the school and county level. Mullins and her mathematics teacher, Susan Boddiford, each received a monetary award of $750 for the honor. This annual competition helps students apply their math skills and see its application to careers in mapping and surveying.

Mullins was recognized at the Surveying and Mapping Society of Georgia’s (SMSG) annual banquet in Savannah this summer. This is the ninth year that a Bulloch County high school student has won the state-level event, and the eighth time that it has been won by a SEBHS student.

Trig-Star is sponsored locally by the Statesboro surveying firm of James M. Anderson and Associates, at the state level by the SMSG and nationally by the National Society of Professional Surveyors’ (NSPS). The contest helps promote careers in surveying and mapping to students across the country.

The test involves four parts, and the student with the highest score in the shortest time wins. Throughout the parts, students are tested on their ability to practically apply trigonometry principals. The problems incorporate the use of right triangle formulas, circle formulas, and the laws of sines and cosines.

More than 10,000 students each year participate in Trig- Star. Austin Edwards was Portal Middle High’s school-level winner. His math teacher is Dennis Moore.

Any student that participates in the Trig-Star competition and plans to enroll in a college degree program that leads to either a two year Associates degree or a four year program leading to a Bachelor degree in surveying and mapping (the Land Surveying Profession) is eligible to apply for the NSPS Foundation Trig-Star scholarship of $5000.00. The applicant does not have to have won at any level of the Trig-Star Contest but must have participated in the contest when offered at their high school.

The competition is open to any student who is sponsored by a local surveying company. The SMSG registers the entire state for Trig-Star, so there is no cost to a local surveying company to sponsor a school. If you are a surveyor and are interested in becoming a sponsor for your community’s high school(s) in the 2016-2017 competition, contact Jim Anderson at James M. Anderson & Associates, Inc. at 912-764-2002.

The Ogeechee Riverkeeper (OR) selected Statesboro High School to receive its 2015 Educational Partnership of the Year award. SHS Science Teacher Rich McCombs accepted the award during OR’s annual meeting August 29 at Love’s Seafood & Steaks in Savannah.

SHS was selected due to the efforts of its science department's teachers. Emily Markesteyn (right), RiverKeeper's executive director, made these remarks about SHS during the award presentation.

“Throughout the course of our outreach work, we interact with scores of schools each year. Over this past year, however, many teachers have forgone the one-and-done type programs for the much more involved Adopt-a-Stream monitoring program. And perhaps none have done so more energetically than Statesboro High School. Not only has this partnership exposed nearly 100 students to stream monitoring, but these students have assimilated their Adopt-a-Stream training into a comprehensive restoration project, turning an ugly, overgrown retention pond into a beautiful, carefully monitored duck pond that is now being utilized as an outdoor classroom. Ogeechee Riverkeeper is so thankful to have been a part of this project, and we are honored to recognize Statesboro High School.”

The Statesboro High School Duck Pond project was led by SHS Science Teacher Lee Bratton and funded by $2,000 in innovation grants from the Bulloch County Foundation for Public Education. Environmental science students collaborated with university professors, field experts, and other content classes to design, build and maintain the outdoor classroom and science lab for the conservation of wildlife and its habitat. The "Duck Pond" is located on school property, making it easily accessible for daily learning use.

Statesboro High Science Teacher Rich McCombs and Noah Caplinger, a SHS sophomore, were invited to speak at the Technology Association of Georgia's 4th Annual STEM Education Awards at the Carlos Community Center in Atlanta, on August 28. They were part of a panel of speakers that shared their experiences in engaging students in STEM education.

Addressing all the conference’s attendees, McCombs and Caplinger shared how Statesboro High engages community partners to help students see the importance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Caplinger also shared how STEM-related classes at SHS have made him want to pursue career opportunities in these fields. McCombs addressed the importance of partnerships with Georgia Southern University, Armstrong Atlantic State University, Ogeechee Technical College and local businesses and industries, who help students understand workforce needs.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average American home is 2,600 sq. ft. with three occupants, and most of us would agree that it’s hard work to keep a home clean. Compare that to local public schools where custodian teams work in shifts from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. to keep 15 campuses clean and healthy.

Bulloch County Schools’ custodians tidy up after more than 11,550 students and faculty daily. They have nearly 1.6 million sq. ft. of bathroom, office, classroom, commons area and athletic facility spaces to mop, wax, scrub and dust daily. Plus, they do windows and take out the trash, up to 150 trash bins a day. This is the challenge that our custodian teams accept each school day and even on weekends when our facilities are rented by community groups.

To recognize and encourage excellence amongst its custodians, Bulloch County Schools created the Clean School Award. The custodian teams at Portal Middle High School and Statesboro High School were the first recipients of the honor on August 27.

PMHS received the award for having the highest inspection results. They scored 96.6 points out of a possible 100. SHS received the award for being the most improved team. They improved their previous month’s inspection score by 14 points, twice as much as the second highest school. "The Clean School Awards create friendly competition between school custodians to see who can have the cleanest school,” said Paul Webb, the district’s chief operations officer, who oversees school nutrition, transportation and maintenance.

“Thank you for the great job that you do,” said Webb, as he, Mike Copeland and school administrators surprised the teams with their awards. Webb had the plaques immediately hung in the schools’ commons areas, and the awards will travel to the winning schools each month.

Under the new program, Mike Copeland, Bulloch County Schools’ warehouse and custodial services coordinator, conducts a monthly walk through of all 15 schools. As he meets with the head custodians, he grades the team’s performance using a cleanliness rubric based on standards developed by the International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA) and the Cleaning Industry Research Institute (CIRI).

After scoring each school, Copeland meets with the head custodian and the principal to applaud what is going well and offer suggestions for improving problem areas. "The great thing is that the staff knows we are coming back the next month and that we will make additional random inspections, so they have a chance to improve and win the next month,” Webb said.

“A clean school is a healthy school, and we want healthy environments for our students, employees and community,” Webb added. “A clean school positively affects school climate and public perception."

This supports research by the National School Climate Center, which found that “schools with positive overall school climates tend to have better test scores and graduation rates.” Providing modern, functional, safe and clean educational facilities is an important part of ensuring that the school district fosters positive school climates and properly maintains the facilities in which the community has invested.

The Bulloch County Board of Education will meet for its regularly scheduled work session on Thursday, August 27, 6:30 p.m., in the media center of Southeast Bulloch High School (9184 Brooklet-Denmark Hwy.). The work session will feature updates on the progress of major initiatives within the school system's Business & Finance, Operations, and Curriculum and Instruction offices. An agenda and Board packet for the meeting are attached.

Mallard Gains Career Experience; Ready to Compete in Upcoming Competitions

Portal FFA member, Lizzie Mallard, recently attended the statewide FFA Floral Design Career Development Event training held at the Georgia FFA/ FCCLA Center in Covington. The two-day training was developed specifically for FFA members to strengthen their floral design skills. The training was led and sponsored by members of the Georgia State Florist Association along with generous donations from many floral companies from across the nation.

The partnership between the middle and high school agriculture programs and the Georgia State Florist Association plays a fundamental role in preparing students through hands on experiences for future careers in the floral industry.

Bulloch County Schools is hosting an important informational meeting about Georgia’s updated dual enrollment program, Move on When Ready. If you are the parent/guardian of a high school student, please attend one of these upcoming sessions on either Thursday, September 3, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. or Thursday, September 17, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon. Both sessions will be held at Statesboro High School in the auditorium.

Administered by the Georgia Student Finance Commission (GSFC), the revised Move on When Ready (MOWR) program consolidates the state’s existing dual enrollment options (original Move On When Ready, Accel and HOPE Grant). Now students truly earn dual credit since courses can count toward both their high school and college requirements.

MOWR will make it easier for students to enroll in college courses while they are still in high school and will remove some of the financial barriers that once prevented students from participating in a dual enrollment programs.

Up with People is coming to Bulloch County, August 24-28. Our school system is excited for them to return to our schools.Be sure to see the premier of Up with People’s new show ‘The Journey,’ at 7 p.m., Friday August 28, at Statesboro High School. Tickets are on sale now at the Averitt Center for the Arts' box office: Adults $15 and senior adults and children $10.

Up with People is a global non-profit and educational program that brings the world together through music and service. The cast of Up with People is made up of 100 young adults, ages 17 to 29, who are from 20 different countries. They travel around the world, stay with local host families, do 800 hours of volunteer work per week and perform a high energy musical show. In every city that they visit they take the time to connect with schools to facilitate cross cultural communication and diversity workshops and have cultural exchange between students.

Bulloch County Schools’ students and their parents have a unique opportunity to be a part of Up with People’s visit by hosting an international cast member for the week, attending a back stage tour, volunteering with the cast in the community, or helping bring a cultural workshop to their school or extra-curricular organization. For our older students, they may want to consider being a future cast member, where they can travel and earn college credit.

If you are interested in any of these opportunities, contact Chelsea Glosser at 216-258-8181 or cglosser@upwithpeople.org. She is part of the Up With People advance team that is already here preparing for the group's visit.

The Bulloch County Board of Education will meet for its regular session meeting on Thursday, August 13, at 6:30 p.m., in the board room of the William James Education Complex at 150 Williams Road in Statesboro.

Main topics for the meeting include contracting with the Georgia School Boards Association for a periodic review of the local Board's policies, a request to name the vocational/technical wing at Southeast Bulloch High School and a review of the school system's June 2015 financial reports. The complete Board packet is attached.

State School Superintendent Richard Woods is seeking middle and high school students to serve on his fall 2015 Student Advisory Council. These students will meet with Superintendent Woods to discuss the impact of state policies in the classroom, along with other issues related to education, and will serve as the Superintendent’s ambassadors to their respective schools.

The selected students will be contacted via email. All students can check gadoe.org, under News & Announcements, on September 11 to see if they have been selected.

If selected, middle school students will meet September 28, November 9, and March 28. High school students will meet October 1, November 12, and March 31. The Student Advisory Council will also have two virtual meetings. Details on times and dates will be discussed at the first meeting.

In response to recent parent questions about corporal punishment, please review the attached information. Bulloch County Schools’ main mission is to educate children, not punish them. In order to offer the best learning environment possible for students and employees, administrators must also ensure that our schools are safe and free of distractions that may interfere with learning. As a result, the Bulloch County Board of Education requires all of its schools to adopt codes of conduct.

Bulloch County Schools' 15 campuses and Transitions Learning Center began classes on Monday, August 3, after hosting successful open houses on Thursday. Attendance for the first day was 9,683 compared to an opening-day attendance last year of 9,234. The previous school year ended with an enrollment of 10,192. Attendance will continue to increase over the next several weeks and is expected to reach around 10,300.

Bulloch County’s School Nutrition Program invites your child to participate in our breakfast and lunch services this school year. Cafeteria staff plan and prepare nutritious meals each day that meet current dietary guidelines. These are updates on what to expect for the new school year:

The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) released its lists of Priority and Focus Schools on Wednesday as part of its Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) accountability waiver. One of Bulloch's schools was removed from the Focus list, three schools were placed on the list and no schools are on the Priority list. Focus Schools are the lowest performing 10 percent of Title I schools in the state, and Priority Schools are the lowest five percent.

The Bulloch County Board of Education will meet for its scheduled work session at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 23. Please note that the meeting will be in the media center of Statesboro High School. The Board packet for this evening's meeting is attached.

Bulloch County Schools will host Open House for our pre-kindergarten through twelfth-grade students and their families at each of our 15 campuses on Thursday, July 30. Open House for our elementary schools will be 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. and Open House for our middle and high schools will be 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. This event includes the Statesboro High Pre-School, whose open house will be 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.

These events are designed to give students and families time to tour our schools, meet your child's teachers, pick up important information and sign up for opportunities to serve in your child's school.

Remember as well that the first day of school is Monday, August 3. If you are new to our system, please register your child at your zoned school before the first day of class. This will enable us to welcome your child, have them assigned to a class(es), and prepare all the materials and services that he or she may need. Our middle and high school offices are open throughout the summer, and our elementary school offices will reopen on July 20.

Mattie Lively Elementary School's assistant principal, Dr. Carolyn Vasilatos, has accepted the role of interim principal of the school for the upcoming year. Vasilatos will serve while the district conducts a nation-wide search to replace former principal, Todd Williford, who resigned this summer after 21 years to accept a position with an educational software vendor.

Vasilatos is a veteran educator with 19 years of experience, 16 of those with Bulloch County Schools. Before becoming an administrator, she served 10 years at Julia P. Bryant Elementary as a kindergarten and first-grade teacher.

The Bulloch County Board of Education approved a Fiscal Year 2016 Budget at its regular session meeting on Thursday, July 9. The Budget does not include a millage rate increase, but does include raises for certified and non-certified employees and additional resources for schools.

The Bulloch County Board of Education approved a tentative Fiscal Year 2016 Budget at its regular session meeting on Thursday, June 11. It does not include a millage rate increase, but does include raises for certified and non-certified employees.

The budget will be available for review and public input until June 25. The Board is expected to vote on the final budget on that date during its scheduled work session at 6:30 p.m.

Bulloch County Schools and Statesboro High School are hosting a second, special graduation ceremony for a few graduates’ family members on Saturday, June 27, at 10:00 a.m. in the SHS Auditorium. These families were unable to witness the complete original ceremony at Georgia Southern University’s Hanner Fieldhouse because the doors were temporarily locked minutes before the ceremony due to safety concerns about the building’s occupancy.

Graduates and their families are encouraged to contact Kathy Hendrix at SHS by Monday, June 22, at 212-8860 or khendrix@bullochschools.org if they would like to participate. After the special ceremony, Georgia Southern University’s Blue Tie Catering will provide an on-site reception for guests.

“Do what you are supposed to do and good things will come.” The simple yet effective motto of Statesboro High School’s valedictorian, Anji Li, who graduates at the top of her 357-member senior class this weekend.

Portal Middle High School’s valedictorian, Mattie Braselton, is a great admirer of Stephen Hawking. The accomplished theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author once said, “However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.” Once you meet Mattie, you realize that she could have easily spoken these same words.

If you had to choose between singing at Carnegie Hall or being named valedictorian of your senior class, which would you choose? It is not a choice that Southeast Bulloch High School Valedictorian Lauren Boddiford had to make. She achieved both and is also SEBHS’s STAR student.

Several of our high school athletic teams are offering athletic camps this summer for softball, basketball, cheerleading and volleyball. The age ranges vary for each camp from 3 -17 years old, so check the registration forms for complete details.

The camps are a great opportunity for our kids to stay active over the summer and learn new skills, especially those who are older and preparing for middle and high school athletic teams.

All camps prefer pre-registration, but walk-up registrations are available for most camps. A list of the camps, along with a contact and link to registration forms, is provided below.

The Bulloch County Board of Education will meet on Thursday, May 28, 6:30 p.m., for its regularly scheduled work session. The meeting will be held in the board room of the William James Educational Complex on Williams Road in Statesboro. An agenda and information packet for the meeting are attached.

Key topics for discussion include policy revisions, technology and software purchases, and school nutrition purchases for the upcoming 2015-16 school year. The Board will also continue its discussions on the development of the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget.

More than 8,000 Georgians could now be eligible to receive their high school diplomas under a new law signed by Governor Nathan Deal on March 30. House Bill 91 – Diploma Recovery, which was sponsored by state Rep. Brooks Coleman (R-Duluth), retroactively eliminates certain state tests that are no longer required for graduation.

The law helps current and former students, who met all other academic requirements for graduation, but who did not receive a high school diploma because they were unable to pass a portion(s) of multi-part state exams. The law extends to the following state exams: Georgia High School Graduation Test; the Georgia High School Writing Test; and the Georgia Basic Skills Test, which was first administered in 1981.

After several months of discussion, Bulloch County Schools is moving forward with its plan to adjust the transportation zones for Sallie Zetterower Elementary School (SZES) and Langston Chapel Elementary (LCES) for 2015-16. This change in bus routes will affect approximately 140 LCES students, who currently ride a bus to school. They will be moved to SZES, beginning the first day of school, which is August 3. Attendance zones, which are based on property addresses, are not changing for either school for 2015-16.

If you are the parent of a student who receives special education services, Georgia law provides you the choice to transfer your child to another public or private school in Georgia. For information about qualifying for the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program for the 2015-2016 school year, please see the attached requirements.

Bulloch County Schools invites parents and the community to give input to its federal and state programs on Tuesday, May 26, 5:00 - 6:00 p.m., in the board room of the William James Educational Complex on 150 Williams Road. This meeting is held each year for the public to express their input on how they would like to see federal funds used in the school system.

As the parent or guardian of a student currently enrolled in our school district, under state law (House Bill 251) you may request to transfer your child to another public school within Bulloch County Schools for the upcoming 2015-2016 school year if there is available space. This school choice/transfer request window is open Monday, May 4 - Friday, May 22 at 4:00 p.m. No requests will be accepted after the deadline. For more details, a list of schools with available space, and a request form, click here.

The TAG Education Collaborative (TAG-Ed) will host the third annual, statewide Georgia STEM Day on Friday, May 8. Georgia STEM Day is an opportunity for students, educators and organizations to celebrate and engage in activities involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Last year’s event attracted over 620,000 students from 50 different school districts across the state. In Bulloch County, various campuses have special activities planned.

The Bulloch County Board of Education will host its April work session on Thursday, April 30, 2015 in the media center of Southeast Bulloch High School. Key topics for discussion include a transportation zone change for Sallie Zetterower Elementary and Langston Chapel Elementary and the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget.

Bulloch County Schools' nine elementary schools will host Kindergarten Registration for the 2015-2016 school year on April 27 - May 1st. Registration packets can be picked up at your zoned school during school hours. See the attached flyer or visit www.bulloch.k12.ga.us/kindergarten for more information and for a list of evening registration and testing dates.

The Statesboro High School Musical Theatre Class and Fine Arts Department is proud to present Disney's "The Little Mermaid, Jr." The show will feature selected members of the Mattie Lively Elementary School Chorus, as well as a few other elementary and middle school students who attend other Bulloch County Schools. For student matinee reservations and curriculum connections, please contact Lisa Muldrew at~lmuldrew@bulloch.k12.ga.us~or call (912) 531-7851. Public performance tickets will be sold at the door prior to the performance.

Student Matinee - Friday, April 24, at 9:00 am. Students and parents are $2.00 and teachers and bus drivers are free.

Public Performance - Saturday, April 25, at 2:00 pm. General admission tickets are $5.00, and $2.00 for children five and under.

Bulloch County Schools’ third- through eighth-grade students will take the new Georgia Milestones End-of-Grade Tests (EOG) April 21 – May 1. The new statewide assessment system replaces the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests, and will measure progress in the content areas of English/language arts, math, science and social studies. Parents can access additional information about the tests at www.bulloch.k12.ga.us/testing.

The Bulloch County Board of Education will host its next regular session meeting on Thursday, April 9, 6:30 p.m., at the district's Central Office, on 150 Williams Road in Statesboro. The meeting's Board Packet is attached.

Key items on the agenda include approval of two 21st Century Communities Afterschool and Summer Youth Development Program agreements and continuing transportation zone and Fiscal Year 2016 Budget discussions. The Board will also consider placing on the table for further review a proposed agreement with Lose & Associates, Inc. to prepare a master plan for middle school athletic facilities, which were identified by the Board's Facilities Committee.

Bulloch County Schools encourages all parents with children, who attend one of the district’s 15 public schools, to complete an online survey from the Georgia Department of Education, the Georgia Parent Survey, regarding the climate and safety of their child’s school(s). Access the survey from any desktop or mobile device with Internet access. If a parent does not have access to the Internet, he/she may contact one of our schools and make an appointment to complete the survey there.

Click Hereto take the survey now, or access it from our homepage at a later time.

The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) has released the state’s first School Climate Star ratings for schools across the state. The results will help parents, students, and school personnel evaluate their school’s atmosphere. Six of Bulloch County Schools' 15 campuses achieved an above-average rating of four stars out of a possible five.

Measured by star rankings from one to five, one being unsatisfactory and five being excellent, parents and school administrators can see the perceived atmosphere of their schools in regards to safety, relationships, teaching and learning, and institutional environment and based on the following input from each school: (1) faculty/staff, parent and student responses to the annual Georgia School Climate Survey; (2) discipline referrals; (3) incidents of bullying, harassment, violence or drug use; and (4) attendance rates by students, teachers and administrators.

The Langston Chapel Middle School Girls Basketball Team won the 2015 Coastal Empire Region Championship on their home court on January 24, capping off a season of determination and hard work. Head Coach Marty Holder and representatives of the Blue Devil squad were presented to the Board of Education by LCMS Principal Evelyn Gamble-Hilton on March 12.

Robert Lloyd, an eighth-grade student at Langston Chapel Middle School, was recently selected as one of the state’s best student percussionists by the Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) by receiving the honor of First Chair in one of two middle school-level All-State Bands. Lloyd went through a rigorous audition process against the best percussionists from around the state, and his score was one of the highest. He rehearsed and performed with the All-State Band February 26 -28, at the Classic Center in Athens, and worked with nationally recognized conductor, Robert Herrings, from Texas.

Thank you to all of our parents that have selected Bulloch County Schools for their child's pre-kindergarten experience. We are excited to welcome these little ones to our campuses for the 2015-2016 school year. Our pre-kindergarten lottery drawings for registered students are March 19 -31 at the Board of Education. Please click here for a complete schedule of each school's lottery drawing date and time.

Families in Bulloch County are invited to attend Langston Chapel Middle School's free Family Math & Science Night on Thursday, March 26, 5:30 - 8:00 p.m, in the LCMS Gymnasium. The event features a free hot dog supper and hands-on activities and presentations by Savannah's Magic Marc Dunston, the Georgia Southern University Wildlife Center, and the Statesboro Astronomy Club. Other special activities include graph the lollipop, skewer the balloon, and character sketches.

The Southeast Bulloch High JROTC Drill Team dominated the Region Nine Drill Championships on March 7, at Metter High School, by winning seven of eight events. The team competed against nine of the area’s male and female drill teams in both the regulation armed and unarmed categories. The Yellow Jackets advance to the state drill meet at Griffin High School on March 21.

Statesboro High School Science Teacher Lee Bratton was recently awarded the Conservation Educator of the Year Award by the National Wild Turkey Federation at their national convention in Nashville. Bratton has successfully paired her love of science, nature and hunting to conservation education and shooting sports at SHS. Through her science classroom and the formation of the nation's first NWTF and Ducks Unlimited chapters at a high school, Bratton is successfully giving students practical conservation projects to apply their science knowledge. http://goo.gl/GWhNR7

The Bulloch County Board of Education will meet for its regular session meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 12, in the boardroom of the district's central office at 150 Williams Road in Statesboro. An agenda and the Board packet of items to be discussed is available at www.bulloch.k12.ga.us/boardpackets or see the attachment below.

Update: Joy Darley will direct the Camp Invention Illuminate™ program at Georgia Southern University June 22-26, for rising first - sixth-grade students.

Register on or before March 20, 2015 to receive $25 OFF the base price of $220.

GSU is a host site for Camp Invention, a national program backed by the National Inventors Hall of Fame and the U.S. Patent & Trademarks Office.The program allows children to explore science, technology and their own innate creativity, inventiveness and entrepreneurial spirit.

Bulloch County Schools will host prekindergarten registration March 9-13 for the 2015-2016 school year. Parents may begin picking up registration packets that week at either the Board of Education, any of our nine elementary schools, or our three high school Pre-K sites. For complete details visit www.bulloch.k12.ga.us/prekindergarten.

Langston Chapel Middle School is hosting its First Annual Rockin' Blue Devil 5K Run/Funwalk, on Saturday, March 21, at Statesboro High School's Womack Field. Participants can enjoy running or walking to their favorite music.All proceeds benefit the school's Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) and athletic teams.

The 5K run begins at 9:00 a.m., and walkers start at 10:00 a.m. There will be medals for First-, Second- and Third-Place in all age categories and awards for the best Overall Male and Female.

On-site registration on the day of the event begins at 8:00 a.m.; however, early registration is encouraged. Register online by clicking here. Those who register by March 10, are guaranteed a t-shirt, and additional shirts will be available while supplies last. Come support the Langston Chapel Middle School Blue Devils.

Statesboro High School’s JROTC Leadership Team will compete for the 2015 Army JROTC Leadership Bowl Championship title this summer. After earning top scores in two preliminary competition rounds against 1,320 other teams, they are one of only 40 Army JROTC Academic Bowl teams in the nation to qualify for nationals. They earned an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., to compete on the campus of The Catholic University of America, June 26-30.

The Bulloch County Board of Education will host its annual Speak Up for Education event for school councils, parents and the community on Thursday, February 26, 6-8 p.m. at Julia P. Bryant Elementary School. Anyone interested in K-12 public education is encouraged to attend.

The Bulloch County Board of Education will have a Regular Session meeting on Thursday, Feb. 12, at 6:30 p.m. in the boardroom of the school system's Central Office on 150 Williams Road in Statesboro. The meeting agenda and Board packet are attached.

The Southeast Bulloch FFA Chapter is hosting an Art & Essay Contest for all students from its feeder schools: Nevils Elementary, Brooklet Elementary, Stilson Elementary, Southeast Bulloch Middle and Southeast Bulloch High School. Students are asked to draw a picture and/or write an essay about the topic corresponding to their grade level. For details, see the attached flyer or contact Susannah Lanier, at SEBHS slanier@bulloch.k12.ga.us

Middle School Matters is a series of workshops designed for parents of children, who are in fifth - eighth grades, with the philosophy that parenting, like all types of education, is an ongoing and lifelong learning process. This is a free event and lunch is provided.

For more information contact the Bulloch County Schools Title I Programs Office at 912.212.8500 or contact the Parent Involvement Coordinator at your child’s school.

Langston Chapel Elementary School and Langston Chapel Middle were both evacuated Friday afternoon after an air unit behind the elementary school’s fifth-grade wing caught fire. There were no injuries reported, and the affected classrooms at LCES sustained only minor smoke damage. Students were able to return to class within 40 minutes. Langston Elementary and Langston Middle are on neighboring campuses and are connected by a shared kitchen, so fire alarms were triggered at both schools.

The Bulloch County Board of Education will meet on Thursday, January 29, 6:30 p.m., at the school system's Central Office Boardroom. This is a scheduled work session. The Board meeting agenda and packet are attached. Key items are the 2015-16 School Calendar, the school system's strategic plan, and a report from the Board's facilities committee.

Nigel Washington, a 13-year-old, seventh-grade student at Langston Chapel Middle School (LCMS) was selected as this year’s winner in the first annual Sea Island Bank American Education Week Essay Contest from more than 400 entries. Middle school students from Bulloch Academy and Bulloch County Schools' four middle schools shared touching stories about "What My Teacher Means to Me."

Sea Island Bank executives gathered at LCMS Wednesday morning to recognize Washington and his former sixth-grade math teacher, Joni Chavers, during a school-wide assembly. Chavers received $250 and Washington received a Google Chromebook and a scholarship to an upcoming writing workshop at the Averitt Center for the Arts.

See the full story and Washington's essay below. In the coming weeks look for other great student essays on our website.

Bulloch County Schools' fifth-grade gifted education students (QUEST) spent the day with national award-winning astronomer Kevin Manning on January 14, at Georgia Southern University (GSU). With assistance from GSU's Interdisciplinary Institute for STEM, the students learned about the size and scale of our universe, survival on the Moon, the space rover Curiosity's mission on Mars, the famous comet hunter Charles Messier, and NASA's Micro-Observatory. The day ended with a family astronomy event for the students' families. This year's unit of study for fifth-grade QUEST is space.

The Bulloch County Board of Education held its annual Organizational Meeting on Thursday, Jan. 15. Judge Lee DeLoach presided over the swearing-in of new Board members Jimmy "Jay" Cook, Jr. and Glennera Martin, along with re-elected Board members Steve Hein and Mike Sparks. The Board elected Dr. LeVon Wilson as its chairman and Mike Sparks as vice-chairman. The Board also approved its 2015 Board Meeting dates.

In new business, the Board placed on the table for review a proposed 2015-2016 School Calendar. The calendar is available for review and public comment through Jan. 29, when the Board will vote on the calendar at its work session. A copy of the calendar is attached.

Report Cards for the second nine weeks and first semester will be issued and made available online on Tuesday, Jan. 13. Bulloch County Schools is also pleased to provide an annual Georgia Student Growth Model Report(GSGM) that is a new way to provide parents individualized information on their child’s academic progress. This year’s GSGM covers the 2013-2014 school year. For elementary (5th grade) and middle school grades (6-8), students' individualized GSGM reports will come home with their report cards. For high school students, these reports will be available online in Parent Portal.

There are several resources available to assist parents with understanding these new reports. Visit gsgm.gadoe.orgto find sample GSGM reports and a video to assist with interpreting these reports. Parents and the community can also view school- and district-level SGP results at gastudentgrowth.gadoe.org.

Bulloch County Schools' Gifted Services will be conducting a spring review of kindergarten – eighth-grade students who are nominated for gifted services. The schools will accept nominations from teachers, parents, students, or peers beginning Monday January 7 through Wednesday, January 21. Any nominations received after the test window closes will be held until the Fall 2015 Test Window.

State School Superintendent-elect Richard Woods is accepting applications for the 2015 Student Advisory Council. All students in grades 7-12 are eligible to apply, and applications must be received by Friday, January 16.

The members of the Student Advisory Council meet with the State School Superintendent in February, March and May to discuss how decisions made at the state level are affecting students throughout Georgia. Student advisers act as liaisons between the Department of Education and the students of Georgia. Applicants should be willing and able to attend all meetings.

All applicants will be notified in writing if they are selected to be a member of the Student Advisory Council. Members will be chosen by a committee of Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) representatives.

Click Here for an application (online fillable form that can be completed online, saved and then emailed as an attachment or a PDF file of the application is attached below.) Completed applications should be emailed to Ron Culver of the GaDOE at rculver@doe.k12.ga.us. If you have any questions please contact 404-657-0144.

According to the National Weather Service and the Bulloch County Emergency Management Agency, colder temperatures will affect our area for the next few days. Bulloch County Schools will operate on its normal schedule for all campuses during this time.

When we experience extreme winter temperatures, our transportation and maintenance departments do take extra precautions to ensure that our buses and buildings are ready and warm to receive students.

If any unforeseen events arise, we will notify parents. You can continue to monitor this website, our social media sites, the media, and our electronic messaging system for updates.

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. We are ready to welcome back our faculty, staff and students.

Classes resume for students for the second semester on Tuesday, Jan. 6. Monday is an in-service training and planning day for teachers. For a complete list of holidays and breaks for the second semester, click here.

The Bulloch County Emergency Management Agency issued a statement Sunday about a cold front that will affect our area this week. Please ensure that students are prepared for the colder temperatures.

The Bulloch County Board of Education will meet on Dec. 18, 6:30 p.m., in the board room of the William James Educational Complex. Attached is the agenda and information packet for this evening's meeting.

Georgia schools received their annual report cards Tuesday as the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) released College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) scores based on 2013-2014 data. Though lower than Fiscal Year 2013 scores, Bulloch County Schools’ Fiscal Year 2014 results mirrored a statewide trend of lower scores that is expected to continue the next two years as school systems completes the transition to new state academic standards and standardized tests.

The U.S. Army Cadet Command’s 6th Brigade ROTC selected Statesboro High School to debut a new national JROTC program evaluation process. On November 20, the Blue Devil Battalion met the challenge brought by 13 Army inspectors by being designated as a JROTC Program of Excellence with an overall score of 96.4. The Army will implement JPA across the nation next school year.

The U.S. Army Cadet Command’s 6th Brigade ROTC covers five southeastern states and is the largest Brigade for JROTC with 470 programs involving 102,000 JROTC cadets. Its headquarters is based out of Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah.

The Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) at Statesboro High teaches students character education, student achievement, wellness, leadership and diversity. It is led by retired military instructors Lt. Col. Brian Knox, Command Sgt. Maj. Joe Depenhart, and 1st Sgt. David Redwine.

Georgia Southern University's Athletic Marketing Department is hosting Education and Toys for Tots Day on Monday, Dec. 22, 6:00 p.m., at Hanner Fieldhouse during the GSU Men's Basketball game against Truett-McConnell. All Bulloch County Schools employees and students and GSU faculty and staff can purchase general admission tickets for just $5. Other fans can bring a new, unwrapped toy to the game and also receive a $5 general admission ticket.

Collection boxes will be located at the front gates, and the toys will be donated to less fortunate children in the community. The promotion is part of the campus-wide Toys for Tots campaign conducted by the Georgia Southern University Police Department.

It's a great way to cheer on Georgia Southern University, one of the school system's major education partners, and tip-off winter break which runs Dec. 22 - Jan. 5 for students.

Knapp Boddiford, 19, a 2013 graduate of Southeast Bulloch High School, won his second national championship in two years during the 87th Annual National FFA Convention & Expo, Oct. 29 – Nov. 1, in Louisville, KY. He was one of four national finalists that competed in the Diversified Crop Placement Proficiency category, and he received $1,000 for his win. Though now in college, Boddiford still affiliates and competes under the SEBHS FFA Chapter.

Bulloch County Schools now serves children whose families come from 17 different countries. More than 24 different native languages are spoken by children who are students at one of our 15 campuses. With such a treasure of international diversity, it makes the art, drama, music, literature and customs of different countries even more meaningful.

Throughout the year, our fine arts, language arts, foreign language and social studies teachers tell about the contributions and influences of other cultures on the fields of music, art, drama, and literature. This is especially true during the holidays as children learn about the traditions of holidays that are celebrated in our community, like Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah. We invite you to enjoy the sights and sounds of this holiday season. See a list of our events below.

Statesboro High School’s Lady Blue Devils Basketball Team and Head Coach Jeff Seier kicked off their season by hosting "Hoops for Hunger" during their scrimmage game against Windsor Forest on Thursday, November 13. Fans received free admission to the game by bringing in a canned good to support the Statesboro Food Bank. The Blue Devils collected more than 300 cans. SHS along with many of Bulloch County Schools’ other campuses’ student organizations and athletic teams are hosting canned food drives this time of year that are helping stock the local food bank with several thousand cans of needed supplies.

Southeast Bulloch High’s Competition Cheer Squad buzzed their way to the top of the GHSA Cheerleading Championships Nov. 14-15, at the Civic Center in Columbus, by capturing third place in the AAA State Finals. They advanced after competing against 16 other teams to win the state AAA Sectionals during Friday’s rounds of competition.

At Saturday’s final round, the squad once again faced 16 teams, including each of the eight different GHSA region championship squads and the top-8 squads from Friday’s sectionals. The top-three finish improves upon the squads fifth-place win in last year’s state finals.

The Statesboro High Drama Department invites you to see Shakespeare's, The Tempest, Thursday, Nov. 20, 7 p.m. in the SHS Auditorium. General admission tickets are $5 and are available at the door prior to the performance. This is the seventh time that SHS students have brought one of Shakespeare's master works to the stage.

The play is set on a remote island, where Prospera, the rightful Duchess of Milan, plots to restore her daughter, Miranda, to her rightful place using illusion and skillful manipulation. She conjures up a storm, the eponymous tempest, to lure her usurping brother, Antonio, and the complicit King Alonso of Naples to the island.

The Tempest was Shakespeare's last major play, and it is widely thought to have been inspired by the real life loss of a fleet of ships, including a new flagship, The Sea Venture, in July 1610, in a hurricane off the coast of present day Bermuda. The islands had not yet been discovered and later became a British Colony. The devastating news of the loss of these ships and their cargo, which was meant to help save the floundering colony of Jamestown, was as impactful to England as the later sinking of the Titanic.

November is Georgia Apply to College (GAC) month, and Statesboro High (SHS) and Southeast Bulloch High (SEBHS) are two of more than 100 sites statewide that have been designated to host GAC events for graduating seniors. Staffed with school counselors, college admissions and recruitment coordinators, educators and community volunteers, these events provide students a helpful, hands-on environment to apply online to college. The SEBHS GAC is November 18, 8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., and SHS’s event was Nov. 13-14.

The 7th Annual Turkey Trot is Saturday, Nov. 22, in downtown Statesboro. Proceeds from the event benefit the Bulloch County Foundation for Public Education and the MainStreet Statesboro Farmers Market. An event brochure and registration form is attached or register online at www.active.com.

Bulloch County Schools is partnering with the Pathways to Prosperity Network to develop a community-based education and work-readiness system of grades 9 through 14, that leverages our high school programs, technical college, business and industry, and other community resources, to align our students' opportunities with regional and state (as part of the larger global picture) labor market needs.

The Georgia Department of Education and the Pathways to Prosperity Network have selected Bulloch County as one of two counties in the state to build a statewide model for workforce development. By doing this, our likelihood of creating a win-win-win situation for our students, community, and post-secondary partners is very good.

On November 11, the school system is hosting representatives from Pathways to Prosperity, the Georgia Department of Education, local elected officials, business and industry leaders, post-secondary leaders, key community organizations, and school officials from Bulloch County's public, private and charter schools. These leaders will learn more about how Bulloch County can leverage its assets and work together to better meet local and regional workforce needs.

At its Nov. 6 Regular Session meeting, the Bulloch County Board of Education (Board) approved Superintendent Charles Wilson's recommendation to pursue the Investing in Educational Excellence (IE2) governance status, which increases school-level autonomy and accountability, an approach that education leaders believe will significantly increase community involvement, spur innovation and increase collaboration with local industry and post-secondary institutions.

The Board was required to choose one of four new governance options by July 15, 2015, in accordance with state law (OCGA §20-2-84.3).The Board’s choice determines the school system’s eligibility for freedoms from certain state education laws and regulations.

The State Board of Education has posted, for a 60-day public comment period, revisions to the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS) in English Language Arts and math.

The standards were revised based on a formal review and evaluation process, as directed by an executive order from Governor Nathan Deal. The review and evaluation process included several survey opportunities, along with legislative and State Board of Education listening sessions.

"Through this process, we have taken every opportunity to hear the concerns of educators, parents, and other stakeholders," State Superintendent Dr. John Barge said. "It’s on the basis of that feedback that we are proposing these changes. This revision is not a retreat from our standards, but a refinement to ensure they are the best standards for Georgia’s students."

As part of the review process, survey feedback was collected and analyzed by the University System of Georgia. A working committee representing Georgia public school teachers, post-secondary staff, parents, and instructional leaders made revisions to the standards based on public feedback and recommendations from survey results for standards with less than 90 percent approval. ELA and Mathematics Advisory Committees then reviewed the recommended changes, and provided additional suggestions based on public feedback.

View the proposed revisions here. To provide feedback on the revisions, contact one of the following:

Note: Some survey respondents, as well as the Academic Review Committee, felt that certain standards needed to also be emphasized in the teacher guidance documents developed by the Department of Education for each grade/course and subject. Some of the recommendations to be emphasized in Guidance and Professional Learning include: phonics instruction; cursive writing; literature and informational text; traditional computing methods; and the memorization of addition, subtraction, and multiplication facts.

There is no better way to teach students the patriotic rituals, symbols, and songs of our country than to give them an opportunity to meet and honor those who have served and fought to protect our freedoms. Several Bulloch County schools are hosting upcoming Veterans Day programs that are open to the public, and they cordially invite parents, veterans and active duty military personnel to attend.

Bulloch County’s 2014 four-year cohort graduation rate of 75.10 percent exceeded the Class of 2013’s (71.70 percent) and was higher than Georgia’s overall rate of 72.5 percent according to data released by the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) and Bulloch County Schools on Thursday. For four of the past five years the district’s graduation rate has steadily increased and been higher than the state’s. For the complete report from the GaDOE, click here. See full story attached below.

It is estimated that more than three million Americans stutter, and approximately 7.5 million have a voice disorder. Many local children and their families are experiencing these challenges, which is why Bulloch County Schools’ speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are hosting, “Success with Stuttering,” a workshop for area parents, teachers and speech-language pathologists on Monday, November 10, at Statesboro High School, from 8:30 – 4:00 p.m. for SLPs and 12:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. for parents and teachers.

The free event features guest speakers Tim Mackesey, an expert in the field of stuttering, and former Georgia Southern University football legend, Chicago Bears player, and motivational speaker Adrian Peterson, whose book, “Don’t Dis My Abilities,” chronicles his life’s victories and challenges, which include stuttering.

The Southeast Bulloch High School Advanced Drama class will perform Hilary Mackelden's play, "Ashdown-Lee," on Thursday, November 6, 7:00 p.m. in the SEBHS Auditorium. General admission tickets are available at the door prior to the performance - $5 for adults and $2 for students.

"Ashdown-Lee" is about a small community in the 18th century, and the struggles the citizens face when three modern-day strangers become hopelessly lost in Ashdown Forest.

The three strangers are co-workers, who are on an outward-bound training weekend. Through the fog, they finally stumble upon a magical village that appears only one day every fifty years. To the villagers it is the next day, but to the rest of the world a new era.

The three must decide by midnight if they want to remain in Ashdown-Lee, and once decided, the person cannot ever leave again or the whole village will perish. This ethereal, yet luminous play explores the universal dream of wishing for a different life but wondering if it would indeed be better. It is a story about happiness, greed, and a need to belong.

October is National Book Month, and Brooklet Elementary has been using this event, along with the other symbols of fall to promote reading and literacy. For 19 years parents and the community have packed the streets of downtown Brooklet to see kindergarten through fifth-grade students bring their favorite book characters to life with costumes and elaborately decorated pumpkins.

Set to music and narrated by BES Media Specialist Belinda Davis, the parade gives students a chance to show their book-themed costumes while escorting their pumpkins on foot. As the students march down Parker Avenue, be sure to catch a glimpse of these transformed pumpkins begin pulled in little red wagons.

Illegal use of alcohol by teenagers is a local issue that is currently receiving increased attention; however, it is not the only unwise behavior choice that can affect children. That’s the focus of the Bulloch Alcohol & Drug Council’s (BADC) Teen Maze, an interactive prevention activity for more than 1,000 tenth-grade students from all local public, private, and charter schools. It is hosted annually at Bulloch County School’s three high schools as part of age-appropriate activities for national Red Ribbon Week October 23 – 27. The first two Teen Mazes were held at Portal Middle High School and Southeast Bulloch High last week, and the third will be Thursday, from 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. at Statesboro High School.

Bulloch County School's was notified by the state this week that its two "Reward" schools will receive a total of $11,500 in additional federal Title I funds due to their academic achievement. Brooklet Elementary(BES) will receive $7,000 and Portal Middle High School (PMHS) will receive $4,500. Though it is up to the schools' principals to determine how the funds will be used, all expenditures must be for educational purposes and meet the guidelines set by the state.

In September 2014, the school system reported that BES and PMHS were designated as “Reward” schools by the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) based on performance data collected for the state’s accountability system, the College & Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI). This designation is reserved for the state's most accomplished schools. This is the third year in a row that BES was named a “Highest Performing” school, and PMHS’s second year as a “Highest Progress” school.

The Statesboro High School Fine Arts Department will present Roald Dahl's, "The Witches," on Saturday, November 1, at 7 p.m., in the school's auditorium. The play is about a young girl, recently orphaned, who is taken to England by her grandmother. At a hotel in which they are staying, a group of witches have gathered to prepare a plot to rid the world of all children. Come and see if the little girl triumphs over the Grand High Witch and her minions. All seats are general admission and are available at the door prior to the performance.

The Southeast Bulloch High School Competition Cheerleader Squad competed in the Battle of the Best Competition at Veterans High School in Houston County on Saturday, October 18. The 17-member squad won First Place in Division 3-A, and then went on to win the overall Grand Championship after achieving the highest score out of all 22 participating teams. This included teams from all Georgia High School Association (GHSA) divisions from 1-A to 6-A. Their competition season continues this Saturday where you can see them perform locally at the Battle in the Boro Cheerleading Competition at Southeast Bulloch High School (8 a.m. – 3 p.m.). The squad, who is led my Head Coach Meredith Jones (right) and Assistant Coach Ashley Howard (left), were region runner-ups last year and went on to place fifth in the Division 3-A GHSA State Cheerleading Competition.

School systems across the country are celebrating National Bus Safety Week on October 20-24, and in Georgia, October 20 was School Bus Driver Appreciation Day, a time to honor the state’s pupil transportation staff, who transport more than one million children twice each day. In Bulloch County, there are three key reasons to recognize these employees’ accomplishments. Read the complete story below.

Linda Fix, an 11th and 12th-grade literature teacher at Southeast Bulloch High School (SEBHS) was named Bulloch County’s 2016 Teacher of the Year at a district-wide reception on Thursday evening at the school system’s central office. This is the second time that she’s received such an honor from a school system. Bryan County Schools named her as their teacher of the year in 2001.

Selected from Bulloch County’s 15 school-level teachers of the year by a five-member community committee, Fix will now represent the district in the Georgia Teacher of the Year competition in May, and possibly go on to compete in the National Teacher of the Year program in February 2016, the event that corresponds to her title designation.

Bulloch County Schools celebrated the fourth annual Georgia Pre-K Week October 6 -10. The week-long series of events supported the 22nd anniversary of the state’s nationally recognized pre-k program. More than 100 state legislators committed to visiting Pre-k centers in their districts to read to students, meet with instructors, tour the facilities and observe students learning.

In Bulloch County, we were glad to welcome back Rep. Jan Tankersley, who read the stories, Harry the Dirty Dog and We're Going on a Leaf Hunt, to Ms. Melissa Williams' and Ms. Carolyn Lanier's pre-kindergarten classes. “Georgia Pre-K is such an important program that helps give children a positive first experience in school and helps improve graduation rates,” said Tankersley.

Georgia Pre-K Week is hosted annually by Voices for Georgia’s Children (www.georgiavoices.org), and supported by Georgia Power, Synovus and Scholastic Corporation.. Established in 2003, it is a nonprofit child policy and advocacy organization that envisions a Georgia where children are safe, healthy, educated, employable, and connected to their family and community. Their mission is to be a powerful, unifying voice for a public agenda that ensures the well-being of all of Georgia’s children.

Bulloch County Schools has 17 pre-k classes that are located at 11 of the school system’s campuses and serves 420 students. Across Georgia there are more than 84,000 students in pre-k centers. Bulloch County Schools also serves 22 special needs students through the Pre-K Disabilities Program. The school system has 34 pre-k teachers and assistant teachers. Principals serve as site directors at their campuses, and Jennifer Wade at the central office is the program's local director.

In the eight years since Southeast Bulloch High School began its choral program with a mere 20 students, its director and vocalists have literally sung their way to the top. From upcoming concerts at the Lucas Theater in Savannah to New York’s Carnegie Hall, the school’s Advanced Chorus is receiving high acclaim from the state’s music educators.

Though individual school scores dipped slightly in most content areas, Bulloch County Schools’ (BCS) overall Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores were slightly higher than 2013, and the district mirrored the state’s trend of more students taking the test. BCS saw the number of test takers increase by 33 percent over 2013. Read the complete story that is attached below, and the district and school-level SAT profiles from College Board are linked here as well.

It’s flu season, and Bulloch County Schools is helping keep our community healthy by working with the Bulloch County Health Department and the State Health Benefit Program (SHBP) to make influenza (flu) vaccine and Flumist available to our students and the flu vaccine available to employees.

The Health Department will host flu clinics for students at each school later this month. Administrators will let parents know when their child’s clinic will take place. The SHBP will host a flu clinic for employees, their spouses and dependents on October 14.

These clinics are offered for your convenience. If you are unable to participate, we encourage you to see your physician or other community provider to ensure you are protected against the flu.

Bulloch County Schools (BCS) honored five new REACH Georgia Scholars at a signing ceremony September 25, at the Board of Education (BOE)’s central office. Chosen from 66 applicants, the eighth-grade students, and their families, were recognized by Rep. Jan Tankersley, the BOE, the Bulloch County Foundation for Public Education (Foundation), and Superintendent Charles Wilson. Each now has up to $20,000 available to them to attend college. This $100,000 investment is made possible by REACH Georgia, the Foundation, and local post-secondary partners, like Georgia Southern University, East Georgia College and Ogeechee Technical College who have agreed to double-match each of the original $10,000 scholarships. Bulloch County’s 2013 and 2014 scholars now have a combined total of $200,000 invested in their education in addition to any other scholarships them may receive.

Students learned about current NASA missions and careers and participated in fun experiments that taught them about air pressure and the distance between the sun and the different planets. Older students were challenged to work in teams to design and build a mobile launch pad that could sustain weight using only 15 straws, a small piece of plastic and tape.

Bulloch County Schools' Federal Programs Director Georgiana Darsey will present the school system's finalized Consolidated Local Education Agency Improvement Plan (CLIP) to the public on Thursday, Oct. 2, 5:30 - 6:00 p.m., in the Board of Education's board room located at 150 Williams Road. The public had input into the plan at a meeting held earlier this year.

On April 22, Bulloch County Schools invited parents and the community to give input to its federal and state programs. The school system holds this type meeting annually to ensure continued funding for these programs.

The following items were discussed at the meeting:

Obtained public input on the school system's District Parent Involvement Policy that guides the services, events and resources offered by our parent involvement coordinators.

Revised and approve the school system's Consolidated Local Education Agency Improvement Plan (CLIP).The CLIP is a consolidated planning document for each of the federal programs that the school system provides under the Elementary and Secondary Education (ESEA) Act and the Georgia Department of Education's Professional Learning Program.This consolidated plan eliminates the need for Bulloch County Schools to submit a separate planning document for each individual program. If you have a child that receives any of the following services, this meeting may be of interest to you:(1) attends any of our 13 Title I schools (all schools are Title I except SHS and SEBHS); (2) special education; (3)English for Speakers of Other Languages; (4) Career, Technical and Agricultural Education (CTAE); (5) migrant; (6) any academic intervention services; or (7) homeless intervention.

Bulloch County Schools is inviting parents and guardians of Julia P. Bryant Elementary and William James Middle students to a community forum on Monday, September 29, 5:30 p.m., in the JPBES Media Center to discuss a Flexible Learning Program (FLP). Administrators will outline how the FLP will address these two Focus schools’ needs and provide parents/guardians an opportunity for feedback.

Bulloch County Schools (BCS) named five additional REACH scholars Sept. 12. Chosen from 66 applicants, the eighth-grade scholars, along with their families, will participate in a special signing ceremony at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 25, prior to the Board of Education’s work session. BCS now has 10 REACH scholars, who have a combined total of $200,000 available to them for their post-secondary education.

The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) released its “Reward” schools list today, and Brooklet Elementary and Portal Middle High School were recognized again as being two of the state’s most accomplished schools based on data collected for the state’s accountability system, the College & Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI). This is the third year in a row that Brooklet Elementary was named a “Highest Performing” school, and Portal’s second year as a “Highest Progress” school.

Crystal Nevius, a student at Southeast Bulloch High School (SEBHS), is Georgia’s 2014 Trig-Star champion, and her competition test scores earned her eighth place in the national Trig-Star competition out of 37 participating states. Nevius and her mathematics teacher, Susan Boddiford, each received a monetary award of $750. They were recognized at the Surveying and Mapping Society of Georgia’s (SMSG) annual banquet in Savannah this summer.

Three of Southeast Bulloch High School’s (SEBHS) student organizations are joining together to host the Colors of Cancer Week Tailgate on Friday, Sept. 19, beginning at 5:30 p.m., in the outdoor cafeteria courtyard in front of the school. The event is free of charge and will include a meal and guest speaker prior to the SEBHS vs. Dodge County football game. Students will be selling event t-shirts for $10, and the money raised will be used to make care packages for local oncology patients.

Bulloch Co. Schools was honored to have Julia P. Bryant Elementary selected as the site of Paint the Town Blue’s Kickoff Balloon Launch on September 3. The event signaled the start of a series of community events leading up to the home opener for Georgia Southern University’s 2014 football season.

More than 900 students and staff encircled members of the GSU Cheerleading squad and GUS, the Eagles’ mascot, as the collegiate students led the crowd in spirit cheers prior to the launch. The students also heard brief words of encouragement from Justice Ejike and Manrey Saint-Amour, who are both seniors on this year’s football team.

Statesboro High School’s Drama Department will present its fifth annual dessert theatre, “Broadway in the ‘Boro,” on Saturday, Sept. 6, at 6:00 p.m. with the show following at 7:00 p.m., in the school’s fine arts auditorium. The event benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) and the SHS Fine Arts Department.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5.00 for students and children 12 and under. If you are planning to attend the dessert portion of the event, please purchase tickets in advance by September 4. To purchase tickets contact Eddie Frazier or Lisa Muldrew (912-212-8860) or Judi Downs (912-587-3977). For further information on LLS, contact Judi Downs at 912-587-3977.

Bulloch County Schools will be closed on Monday, September 1 for Labor Day. Schools will be closed for students on Tuesday, September 2 for a teacher planning and professional development day. Classes will resume for students on Wednesday, September 3.

We hope you have a safe and enjoyable holiday. Please take time to review other important dates for this school year on the attached calendar.

State Board of Education Member Allen Rice is hosting a hearing on public education for residents within the 12th Congressional District, which includes Bulloch County, on Thursday, August 28, in Vidalia, at the Vidalia Comprehensive High School located on 1001 West North Street. The State Board is hosting a total of 14 hearings across the state. The goal of these listening sessions is to hear comments from interested citizens and educators regarding the performance and problems of public education. As part of the State Board’s formal evaluation of the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards, the State Board also wishes to hear comments about the standards.

Superintendent Charles Wilson is participating today in the second of three meetings of the Georgia House of Representatives' Study Committee on the Role of the Federal Government in Education (Committee). Wilson is one of three superintendents serving on the 16-member committee which held its first meeting on July 30 in Atlanta. The Committee is discussing the Common Core, the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards and other items where there is either a real or perceived role of the federal government in public education. All meetings will be video archived on the Georgia House of Representatives website at http://www.house.ga.gov/Committees/en-US/Government'sRoleInEducation.aspx

Four students, who are members of their high schools’ Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) chapters, brought home Gold and Silver medals from three separate National STAR competitions held July 6, during the 70th Annual National FCCLA Leadership Conference at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, TX. Competing in Nutrition and Wellness, Focus of Children, and Recycle and Redesign, students from Portal, Southeast Bulloch and Statesboro High schools all achieved national honors.

Bulloch County Schools is hosting a training class for all parents who are interested in learning how to access and best use Parent Portal. Parents can choose to attend one of the four available classes, and childcare will be provided at each site. All classes are 6 p.m.- 7 p.m.

The dates and locations are as follows:

August 19 at William James Middle School

Sept 4 at Southeast Bulloch Middle School

Sept 23 - at Sallie Zetterower Elementary School

October 7 at Portal Elementary

For more information, contact one of the district's parent involvement coordinators:

Parent Portal is an online resource tool that gives parents 24-hour, instant access to accurate, current and confidential information about their child’s class schedule and teachers, school attendance, grades, class assignments and more. Its email feature also alerts parents/guardians to any issues in these areas such as missed assignments or failing grades. Parent Portal is both desktop and mobile-friendly and available as a digital application (App).

The State Board of Education will host its first public hearing on the review of Common Core Georgia Performance Standards on Tuesday, August 12, 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., at Alexander High School, 6500 Alexander Parkway, in Douglasville. The hearing is hosted by Dr. Mary Sue Murray for citizens in the Thirteenth Congressional District,

The purpose of the hearing is to hear comments from interested citizens and educators within the congressional district regarding the performance and problems of public education. This includes hearing comments about the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards in mathematics and English language arts as part of the State Board’s formal evaluation of these standards.

Persons wishing to speak should sign in upon arrival. For more information, please contact Ms. Debbie Caputo at 404-657-7410. Individuals who need assistance or auxiliary aids for participation in this public forum are also invited to make their needs known to Ms. Caputo, no later than 72 hours before the scheduled event.

House Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) has announced the appointment of Bulloch County Superintendent of Schools Charles Wilson to the Georgia House of Representatives' Study Committee on the Role of the Federal Government in Education. Wilson is one of three superintendent's serving on the 16-member committee which held its first meeting on July 30 in Atlanta.

Bulloch County Schools is set to welcome more than 10,000 students on Friday for the beginning of the new school year. More than 1,350 employees from teachers, custodians, bus drivers, school nutrition personnel, and other support staff are ready to greet them. The district hosted successful open houses at each of its 15 campuses on Wednesday evening.

The school day will begin before 7:00 a.m. for the district's driving force, the bus drivers, who will travel more than 6,000 miles daily across 101 bus routes. By the end of this school year with school travel, athletic events, and fieldtrips, they will safely drive more than 1.1 million miles.

Beginning with the new school year, parents and schools will have a new tool to track students' academic progress. The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) has released its Student Growth Model that will help stakeholders better understand and analyze the progress students make year to year. According to the GaDOE, their new accompanying web tool, gastudentgrowth.gadoe.org, will allow parents and members of the public to view visualized student-growth data. The current data is based on the 2012-2013 school year. Data reflecting 2013-2014 school year will be available on the site in late fall.

According to State Superintendent Dr. John Barge, "Teachers will be equipped to provide more complete and individualized instruction, and parents will be better prepared to help their students improve areas of weakness. As a result, learning in our public schools should improve."

The web tool will allow parents, educators and members of the public to drill down into student-growth data by district, grade level, student group, assessment, and subject area. Parents will receive individual student-growth reports, and teachers will be able to view individual student-growth data for each of the students they teach. In order to protect student privacy, the public will only have access to aggregate data by district and school.

In addition to its primary purpose – improving teaching and learning by providing an additional way of analyzing student performance – the GSGM is utilized in the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) for the Progress determination and as one of multiple indicators of educator effectiveness in the Teacher Keys Effectiveness System (TKES) and Leader Keys Effectiveness System (LKES).

The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) released school-level Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) results June 8. This was the last administration of the statewide assessment for third through eighth-grade students, as a new testing tool will be used beginning second semester. Overall scores for Bulloch County Schools revealed room for improvement in some younger elementary grades, but higher achievement levels for older elementary and middle grades.

Bulloch County Schools will host two training sessions in September (TBA) for persons interested in serving the school district as a substitute for the 2014-2015 school year. The training consists of two sessions covering the "The Sub-Hub" and the "Code of Ethics" videos, with 20 seats available per session. Online registrationfor the training opens on August 1, and is on a first-come-first-serve basis. No early registrations will be accepted, so please wait until it is posted on the Applitrakarea of the school system's website. If you are a certified teacher with a valid teaching certificate, please contact Charlisa Osgood at 912-212-8517 or cosgood@bulloch.k12.ga.us. For more information about substitute teaching, click here.

To apply applicants must meet the following requirements :

Be at least 20 years of age

Have competent computer & Internet skills

Work independently on the Internet-based program – “The Sub-Hub.”

Submit to fingerprinting: Fee $52.75 (credit/debit cards or money orders, no cash or personal checks will be accepted

Provide two forms of identification (Preferably): Drivers' License and Social Security Card

Provide proof of education : (1) Minimum requirement is high school diploma. (GED is not accepted)

Provide names, addresses and telephone numbers of three references; relatives are not included.

The Georgia Department of Education released preliminary district-level Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) results today, and Bulloch County Schools’ scores reflected the statewide trend of eighth graders posting higher pass rates. In fact the school district’s eighth- grade students surpassed the state’s percentage of students meeting or exceeding standards in all five tested areas (reading, English language arts, math, science and social studies). BCS’s fifth- through eighth-grade students outpaced state pass rates on a total of 15 out of 20 tested areas. State officials will release more detailed school-level scores by July 10.

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday, July 30 for open house at each of our campuses (4-6 p.m. for elementary and 5-7 p.m. for middle/high), and on Friday, August 1, for the first day of school. Be sure to check out our Back to School Toolkit link on our homepage for all you need to know to start the new year.

Four recent graduates received $1,000 scholarships from Bulloch County’s Georgia Association of Educators Chapter on June 13, during a special banquet to honor their achievements. Sydney Davis and Andreas Ward of Statesboro High School, Brantley Spence of Portal Middle High School, and Preston Smith of Southeast Bulloch High School each attended the event with their families and shared their future plans.

Eric Riggs, a rising tenth-grade student at Southeast Bulloch High School, was selected as the winner of the Georgia Forestry Foundation’s (GFF) 2014 Forestry: A Foundation for Our Future Artwork and Slogan Contest in the 9th – 12th Grade Category. GFF awarded Riggs and SEBHS a prize package valued at $35,000. More than 1000 students statewide participated and Riggs’ artwork was selected from 56 entries that were chosen to be judged.

Representatives from the GFF, including Foundation Chairwoman Jody Strickland, Contest Committee’s Chairwoman Wanda Barrs, and several local and state leaders in the state’s forestry industry, hosted a reception in Statesboro to honor Riggs and SEBHS faculty prior to the Bulloch County Board of Education’s meeting on June 12.

The Bulloch County Board of Education approved the Tentative Fiscal Year 2015 Budget during its regular session meeting on June 12, 2015. The tentative budget will be advertised to the public. This is the proposed timeline for the remainder of the budget process: